As I have mentioned previously, I have two projects that I want to get finished in the next month or so. The first is “Sadie the Saddle-Billed Stork” and she is coming along nicely…..
The other project is my Color Wheel Quilt that I started several years ago and it is NOW TIME TO QUILT IT!!!
But, the first thing is to get it basted…..
But it is HUGE!!!!
My friend Marnie joined me this past week and we got the job done….
If you are viewing this blog post on your email, you will need to click into the actual blog post to see it. For some reason, it won’t embed directly.
So now it is basted and ready to go……
Next step….
In this blog, I post DAILY stories about creativity, techniques, tools of the trade, and lots more about the wonderful art of quilting. If you are enjoying these posts, please subscribe to be notified of each new blog as it becomes available.
Towards the end of last year, I posted a video showing how I used my design wall to “vertically” baste a quilt. I learned this technique from Christa Watson of ChristaQuilts.
Last month I shared a technique that I learned from Christa Watson (Christa Quilts). This new-to-me technique was basting quilts vertically on my design wall!! Here is the video that I provided in that post…..
If you are viewing this blog post on your email, you will need to click into the actual blog post to see it. For some reason, it won’t embed directly.
In their comments, several people mentioned that they did not have the luxury of a design wall and did I have any suggestions for them!!
Then, last week my friend Linda asked if she could come to my house and use my garage floor to baste some larger quilts…..ones that were too big for the design wall.
After a bit of quick sweeping, we laid out her backing fabric and taped it down so that it was well stretched.
We sprayed it with Odif 505 spray, put the batting in place, and started smoothing.
At this point, I remembered another blog reader mentioned using a ruler to smooth the quilts on the floor too.
Now THAT is an interesting idea and one that I could check out!!
And look at how well it works!!!!
YES….it was easier having someone hold the batting up but it would have made the process easier even without Linda’s lifting!!
And YES, I did crack up in the middle of the video!! My videographer (ie my husband) was making jokes the entire time he was filming!!
So here is the bottom line…..
Whether you are basting flat on a floor, flat on a table or vertically on the wall…..
USE A RULER TO SMOOTH IT OUT!!!!
It will make the process easier and the end result better!!
In this blog, I post DAILY stories about creativity, techniques, tools of the trade, and lots more about the wonderful art of quilting. If you are enjoying these posts, please subscribe to be notified of each new blog as it becomes available.
No…..I am not talking about cooking the Thanksgiving turkey…..I am talking about getting a quilt layered and ready to quilt.
AND I DIDN’T HAVE TO CRAWL AROUND ON THE GARAGE FLOOR TO DO IT!!!
It started in a Houston class with machine quilter, Christa Watson. It was a wonderful class and in passing, she mentioned that she bastes her quilts on her design wall.
I have heard that people do this but I could never figure out how you sprayed it without it getting ALL OVER EVERYWHERE!! But, she mentioned that she sprayed the pieces outside and then transferred them to her studio and pinned them on the design wall.
Okay…..that might work!!!
On Sunday I started out in the garage…..
….and ended up with a perfectly basted quilt in my studio……
I filmed it as I worked thru the process and present this video to show you the nitty gritty.
The video is 23 minutes long but it is all done in real-time, meaning that it took less than 20 minutes to baste the quilt!!
Have a watch and see if this is something that you might like to try……
Obviously, I wouldn’t have the room to do this with a full-size quilt but it worked well for this large lap quilt.
Here it is after I trimmed it, pressed it, and added a few safety pins around the edge….
Tomorrow I will get started with the quilting process.
Stay tuned for more about the quilting of this fun sampler quilt!!
In this blog, I post DAILY stories about creativity, techniques, tools of the trade, and lots more about the wonderful art of quilting. If you are enjoying these posts, please subscribe to be notified of each new blog as it becomes available.
