Thoughts on Basting

I have three quilts that need to be basted, so that's been on my mind a bit lately.

Basting quilts is often people's least favorite part of quilting, but I don't mind it so much. Here are a few of my opinions on the matter:

• Use safety pins. It seems like people have very strong preferences on what to use - basting spray vs. pins is a much debated topic. I'm a pin fan. First of all, any substance that comes out of an aerosol can that requires lots of ventilation is something I avoid. I'm not a fan of stinky chemicals, so the idea of spraying them all over my quilt, whilst getting a headache is not appealing. Pins are cheap, pins are reusable, pins don't require ventilation. Enough said.

• Find the right spot. This is a struggle for quilters. Very few of us have tables large enough to baste on, so that leaves the floor. That is, assuming you have hardwood floors, because carpet doesn't work so well. So if you have a spot of hard wood flooring to baste on, great...but then you have to crawl around on the floor, and generally do all kinds of gymnastics. The result is sore knees and elbows and general dread of ever having to do THAT again. So, be creative. Does your work have a conference room you can use after hours? Does your library have a community room you can hijack for a little bit? My LQS will let quilters use their classroom space for basting. Anyplace with tables that you can move together will work, and trust me - it's worth it to find a place that will let you do this. I use space at my work, and it's so fast to use tables now vs. the floor. I can baste a queen size quilt in about 40 minutes, start to finish. It's pretty painless. 

• Don't pull your backing too tight. I'm convinced that most of the backing puckers people struggle with when quilting is due to them pulling their backing too tight when basting. Fabric has a lot of stretch and give to it. When you tape it down too tightly and proceed to baste, once that tape is released it springs back and causes wrinkles. I tape on all four sides, pulling the fabric just enough to smooth it, but not stretch it. 

That's all my wisdom for now. Time to get basting!