Hi there! Welcome back to the Crazy Acres Quilt Along!
April 17: Basting
April 24: Quilting
May 1: Binding
May 15: Show and Tell
Now that we have our quilt tops ready to go, we are ready to baste!
There are a few different methods that you can use when basting. Please use whichever method you prefer! I am going to show you the spray basting method today!
I have found that this method proves to be the quickest and also I feel that it keeps all of my layers securely in place when quilting. If you haven't tried it out yet, I would recommend trying it on a small quilt or wall hanging type of project before you do a larger quilt.
Since I quilted my Crazy Acres quilt on a long arm machine, I didn't have to "baste" my quilt the same way you would. So I am showing you how to do this method using some practice fabric!
To start, be sure to iron your backing and quilt top so they are wrinkle free.
On a hard surface, tape your quilt backing right side facing down. I like to use painters tape for this, it doesn't leave sticky residue on the quilt backing or on my floor! Tape it nice and tight so there aren't any wrinkles. I like to pull mine pretty tight, but not so tight the tape won't stay put.
I like to fold my batting in half and carefully lay it on the top of my backing. Leave a few inches of space from the top of your backing and center it between the left and right sides.
You are going to spray the backing in two different sections. First, spray the bottom half, and then carefully unfold the batting and smooth out any wrinkles. You will then fold the top half of the batting over. Spray the top half of the backing and then carefully unfold it and smooth out any wrinkles. * When you are spraying, make sure you are in a well ventilated area, it can get pretty stinky and the fumes can get strong! Keep the can about 12" above your actual surface and spray in a circular motion.
This is how it will look once you have applied the spray to both the top and bottom and you have unfolded the batting completely so it is nice and flat without any wrinkles:
You are going to follow the exact same steps when placing your top on! Fold in half, spray the bottom half and then carefully unfold the quilt top and smooth out any wrinkles. Then fold the top portion over and spray, and then unfold it and smooth out any wrinkles.
This is how it looks once you have smoothed out your quilt top:
When you are doing larger quilts, it will take some more patience and time to get all those wrinkles out. So just take your time with it - don't rush!
There you have it! You now have your quilt sandwich and you are ready to quilt!
I have found that it is a lot easier to do the spray basting if you have someone helping you, especially for larger quilts! One thing that I don't love about spray basting is the cost. If you are making a lot of quilts, you are going to go through quite a few cans! Whereas pin basting, you buy the pins once and you reuse them over and over again! Other than that small detail, I really do enjoy doing the spray basting method when possible!
If you prefer the pin basting method, I have a complete tutorial and information about batting HERE!
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
Talk to you soon,
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