Baste it fast with fusible

Over the years, I have fallen in love with fusible batting. It is easier than pinning and doesn’t have the fumes and mess associated with a basting spray.

My favorite brand is Hobbes Heirloom fusible…..

There are a few things that you have to do differently than with non-fusible batting.

First of all, it comes in sheets that are slightly stuck together….

You need to be careful as you peel them apart …..

…but you will eventually get to the single layer…..

It is often fairly wrinkled…..

….and I would suggest that you hang it up or lay it out for a while. You can put it into the dryer, but don’t leave it in too long!!

I normally start with the batting on the bottom and iron the backing fabric on first….

If you accidentally iron a wrinkle into the backing, don’t sweat it!!! Instead, you can simply pull the fabric apart from the batting and re-iron it.

Often the batting isn’t completely wrinkle-free and sometimes ends up looking like this…..

Again, don’t worry about it. Once the quilting is completed, you will never notice the wrinkle!!

After the backing and batting are securely fused, I add the quilt top and iron it as well…….

It is easiest to start ironing in the center of the quilt and slowly work out to the edges.

I normally use a LOT of steam for this process and it seems to work well.

After the top is fused, I like to lay it out flat for 15-20 minutes to let it cool.

The final step is to trim the excess batting and backing fabric off (leaving at least 2 inches on each side). Sometimes I will add a few safety pins along the edge to just hold it in place a bit more.

I can baste a lap size quilt in about 15 minutes, just laying it out on my ironing board. I baste Queen size quilts on my garage floor but use this same 2-part process.

Do you have a favorite batting???

Do you like the quilt that I am using for this demonstration? If you do, you can download a FREE pattern for this quilt HERE