I. Hate. Basting.

Of alllllll the steps in quilting, basting is the WORST! In my opinion, of course. My longarming friends don’t have to worry about basting, which makes me more than a little jelly [jealous]. I’ve spent hours watching youtube videos about basting, searching Pinterest for different ways to baste, and have asked just about every quilter I know how they baste their quilts. Most people I’ve asked tape their backing to the floor and then layer everything on top, then pin or spray baste. I have limitations which makes floor basting difficult. My house is small so laying everything out on the floor would be a challenge. When I do lay things out on the floor (i.e., my batting when I’m cutting a piece off the roll) the dog (my sweet, perfect Cookie) has to sit on it. This doesn’t bother me but the possibility of her deciding it’s a giant piece of doggy toilet paper and dragging her “self” across it does give me pause. The main limitation is that, while I’m able to get myself onto the floor, it would take a tow truck with heavy-duty wench to get me back up. My back and knees speak to me, “what on earth made you think we were gonna help you with this?” Ugh. I have settled on a three-pole, long table, and glue basting system. I roll the backing, batting, and top onto 8-ft poles (none of my quilts have even been close to that size but I dreamed big when I purchased the dowels) and then use washable school glue sticks to stick ‘em together. The youtube video showed a lady unrolling all of them at the same time as she worked her way down the quilts pinning the layers together. Since I glue instead of pin, I like to do the top first and then flip it over and attach the backing. That pinning business wasn’t for me. I’ve also found that the glue, once dry, holds the layers together more securely, or tighter, than the pins. This is way easier for quilting on my Sweet 16 (aka Sweetie) and I can begin anywhere as opposed to having to start in the middle as with the pin basting. I’m considering switching from poles to 1”x3”x7’ boards. It’s hard to keep the layers straight as I roll them onto the poles and a flat board might be easier. I hope. They definitely wouldn’t roll off the edge of the table unwinding as they go making me lose my religion. OMG!! Did I mention that school glue is way cheaper than a can of spray? I also prefer the purple gel glue stick as it shows up on the batting and also smears onto the batting much smoother than the pasty glue sticks. I’m researching for a formula to dilute plain ol’ white school glue with water so I can spray it on instead of smearing on the glue sticks. That will make the process even more cost effective. Hey, you there with the skeptical look on your face! You need to be willing to try new things! LOL! I’m sitting here looking at three quilts that need basted. I cut the batting to size yesterday after I vacuumed my neighbor’s dog’s hair off the floor. Cookie doesn’t shed but her friend does. I understand now why my parents didn’t want certain kids coming to the house when I was a kid. LOL! I’m currently in the procrastinating/psyching myself up phase of the basting process. *sigh* First I’ll put up the table in the living room, followed by more procrastinating, then bringing in the 8’ poles hitting the ceiling fan at least once before I remember to be careful, then more procrastinating. I’ll eventually get these bad boys basted. And then it’s quilting time! Woohoo! What’s YOUR least favorite part of making a quilt?
Angie Clemons Choose Kind (and remember, just saying it or posting a meme about it doesn’t actually make a person kind - LOL!)