How to Baste a Quilt

Cotton batting doesn't require basting spray because it sticks to cotton fabric. Polyester shifts and has to be heavily basted or lightly sprayed. 

Place your backing on a smooth flat surface with the top edge of the fabric along the top edge of the surface. If all you have is a dining table or floor, place a thin blanket on top to protect the surface from the heat of the iron. 

 

Roll up the end of the backing to keep it off the floor. Press the wrinkles out of the backing, stopping at the edge of the surface. 

 

Use a small press board to iron the edges that fall over the sides. Lay the batting on top of the backing fabric and smooth it out. Rest the excess on the end of the surface. Roll the top from the bottom edge up. 

 

Place the top on the batting, leaving about 3" of batting and backing around the perimeter. Pin the top to the batting and backing along the top edge first. Unroll the top slowly while smoothing out the layers. Pin down the sides next. Slide your hand under the back and pin close to the edge. Feel for wrinkles in the back or batting. Tug gently to remove wrinkles and continue. Pin as you unroll the top. 

 

When you come to the excess fabric, roll up the top and pull the quilt up. Lift up the batting and rest it on the top. Iron out the wrinkles on the exposed backing. 

 

Replace the batting and unroll the top. Continue until the entire quilt is pinned. There is no need to stretch the back. The weight of the batting and top will prevent the backing from shifting. Pins also add to the weight.

 

Trim the excess batting and backing 3" from the edge of the top.

For Light Quilting

Use a bright color of thread that is not in the quilt. Thread a basting needle single ply and knot once, leaving a one inch tail. Insert the needle through the three layers. You will feel the needle scrape the hard surface. Bring it back up, creating a 1/2" long stitch. Do this outside the areas you intend to quilt and baste every 4".

Roll both sides of the quilt towards the middle third and secure with basting pins. Start at the top or bottom and work to the opposite end. Remove basting thread and smooth quilt as you go. Unroll the quilt and repeat on each side.

For Elaborate and Micro Quilting

If you plan to stitch in negative space or do a lot stitching, baste every two inches and work smaller areas at a time. I prefer to use basting pins for this. Smooth the quilt and re-pin after finishing each section. This one is quilted edge to edge starting at the bottom.

For Block Quilting

Use six basting pins around each block to secure the layers. 

Check to make sure there are no wrinkles on the back.

Work from the center block outward. Ditch stitch the seams last. Remove pins outside of the stitchted seams and smooth out the quilt, re-pinning if necessary. Continue working clockwise until the quilt is finished.

 

This is what happens when you don't baste at all. See the wrinkles?