Basting Day! How I do it.

So I had two Star Wars quilts ready to baste, no money to send them out to a long-armer, and a whole day to myself.

 

Now, I’m a bit older than all these young bloggers out there, and can’t get down on the floor to baste anymore. I’ve watched a lot of tutorials on other ways to baste, and have pretty much settled on this one. Fortunately, we never bought the nice dining table I always wanted; the garage sale find when we got married was still perfectly serviceable. Now, I don’t worry about tape and pins ruining it.

First, I get my daughter to help set it up on risers, (old, remember? And please pretend my floor is sparkling clean.)

Then tape a popsicle stick  to the middle,  The original tutorial said to tape two in a cross shape. I’m not that particular as to where my middle goes, so I find one sufficient. (I would link to that tutorial, but it’s been awhile, and I can’t find it now.)

I fold the quilt in half lengthwise and smooth it out, and clamp it to the table.

Then set up the batting in the same way, unclamping and reclamping being careful to keep the backing tight

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The side that doesn’t overlap the edge of the table, I tape.

I’ve got my top folded in quarters, so I place that on the table, feeling for that popsicle stick to give me an idea where the center should go.

Now, I unfold it, position it. Reclamp again. And start pinning.

I’ve been wondering where my little helper was all day, and now she shows up, demanding attention. But she doesn’t sit still to get her picture taken. “Come on, Mom. You’ve been busy all day. It’s my turn!”

Where were we? Oh yeah, I got this one done and trimmed.

Then I repeated the process with the next one. Thank goodness for that little tool in the corner. I don’t know why it took me so long to purchase it! This is the first time that I have pin basted a quilt and not had sore and even bloody fingertips! I’ve tried basting with basting spray, and I like it for small quilts, but I prefer pins for larger quilts.

Now, to quilt. The only question is when will I have another day to myself?

 

(I just added a link-up to sewfreshquilts and her Let’s Bee Social weekly linky party!

And )

 

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