Tips & Tricks Archives - Hunter's Design Studio

My Favorite Quilting Books

Sam Hunter — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 17:39:52 +0000

I tend to keep more reference books than pattern books, but here are my top ten recommendations if you are looking to add to your library, or considering a gift for a quilty friend.

Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns – Barbara Brackman

This is absolute gold reference for identifying quilt blocks. While I have a version from the 90s (with hand drawn images!) the latest version is in full color illustrations

501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks – Judy Hopkins

Hundreds of classic quilting blocks with instructions for making them in multiple sizes

Sew Healthy & Happy – Rose Parr

A great reference book for getting the ergonomics of your studio right so that you protect your body

Modern Quilts Traditional Inspiration – Denyse Schmidt

Every time I thumb through this book I’m inspired by the dynamic quilts made with seemingly simple changes of color or orientation

A Field Guide to Fabric Design – Kim Kight

A great reference for designing fabric – and now that we have print-on-demand fabric companies, this will help you design your own fabrics

Dear Jane – Brenda Manges Papadakis

This is a book of the patterns needed to make the Dear Jane Quilt (search for images of this one on the googles – SO MANY amazing versions). And I still keep it on the shelf because one day I’ll get to it… one day…

Sew – The Garment-Making Book of Knowledge – Barbara Emodi

I know, technically not a quilting book, but a valuable reference for making and altering garments that is very helpful for those of us without “standard” proportions

Piecing Makeover – Patty Murphy

Another amazing reference book, this time about skills for better piecing. Quilting is a LOT more fun when you don’t fight with your skills to do it. I feel like even the most seasoned quilter can get a few new nuggets of wisdom from it, and that it is a “must-have” for our newest quilters

Walk and Walk 2.0 – Jacquie Gering

Both of these gorgeous books take using your walking foot beyond stitch-in-the-ditch.

First Steps to Free Motion Quilting, Step-by-Step Free Motion Quilting, and Free Motion Combinations – Christina Cameli

If you plan to up your free-motion quilting game, these three books are a solid reference set that build on each other.

Please drop your favorites in the comments!

NOTE: All links are affiliate, which means I might make a few cents but it does not cost you more.

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How To Spray Baste A Quilt On a Table

Sam Hunter — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 17:39:53 +0000

In this blog post, I’ll cover some important points to add to my two popular videos on how to spray baste a quilt on a table and how to spray baste a quilt that’s larger than your table.

Quilters use spray basting as a popular and efficient technique to secure their quilt layers before the actual quilting process begins.

Spray basting offers several advantages over traditional methods like pinning, including reduced distortion and improved flatness. Also, because there are no pins in your quilt top, you don’t have to navigate around them for your quilting design.

Use spray basting when you plan to quilt it yourself on a domestic machine – you won’t need to spray baste if you plan to send your quilt to a long-arm artist!

I like to spray baste over a table, rather than the floor, as my knees are much happier! But few quilts are as small as a table so I developed this method for spray basting when a quilt is larger than your table:

Here are some extra tips to go with the videos!

Spray basting is best done outside for ventilation purposes. If you must do it inside, turn off any forced air heating/cooling systems or fans. This will spread the airborne adhesive everywhere. Cover everything important within a 6’ radius with old sheets or drop cloths. Wear a mask!

Make sure your table is clean!

Press your quilt top and backing, and fluff out your batting. This is so it can expand from being tightly packed or rolled.

I like to make sure my backing is at least 8’’ larger than my quilt in both dimensions (essentially 4’’ of extra backing on all 4 sides). It’s hard to center a top perfectly so this allowance makes basting a lot easier.

I like Odif 505 Spray Baste best as I find it the least smelly of the adhesives available. It’s specifically designed for quilting and provides a temporary bond that holds the layers together until quilting is complete. I’ve had basted quilts in the closet for several years and the adhesive held just fine.

I use extra large binder clips to clip onto my table, and I use the thinnest table I can find. It’s also good to have masking or painter’s tape handy.

Even though I start basting at one edge of the quilt, I always work out from the middle of that edge. When smoothing out the quilt, batting, and backing, you want to always be smoothing away from the center and glued parts toward the edges as this introduces fewer wrinkles and puckers.

DO NOT STRETCH the backing, batting, or quilt top. You want it slightly taut, but not tight. If you over-stretch any of the components they will contract and wrinkle once you take it off the table. This leads to puckers and creases in the back while you’re quilting.

Spray the adhesive in sweeps, about 12-18’’ above the surface, as this gets wider coverage.

Check for bubbles and wrinkles before you move the quilt to the next position for basting – especially at the place where the adhesive ends and the not-yet-glued fabric begins. It’s easy to miss a small stripe of glue at that junction!

Smooth down the fabric and batting firmly to activate the adhesive and get the layers to stick. Some people recommend using a warm dry iron at this point to activate the glue. Personally, I don’t do this as I‘ve never had trouble with the glue coming unstuck!

Once you’re happy with the basting, you can trim back excess backing or batting. You can also roll up the raw edges and pin them down to make putting the quilt through your machine easier.

Now, go quilt that quilt!

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A stash reduction method that still supports your local quilt store!

Sam Hunter — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 14:20:47 +0000

The beginning of a new year always brings out resolutions to use up your fabric stash and buy nothing

Stash reduction is a noble goal, but let’s be realistic… how many of us can actually pull it off?

May I suggest, instead, a way to do it that allows you to still buy a little fabric? After all, if we don’t support our stores they won’t be there for us when we need them!

Grab a small notebook or journal to keep close to your fabric (or you can use this cute stash reduction download!)

Every time you use up fabric, write it down, and keep a running total of how much you used (use the fabric requirements from your patterns as estimates)

Every time you buy fabric, write this down too, and keep a running total. See below for my friend Kory’s fabric page in her bullet journal!

Try to keep the “bought fabric” total smaller than the “used fabric” total: just buy a little less than you use.

At the end of the year you will have reduced your stash AND supported your locals stores.

WIN-WIN!

P.S. You can also cull your stash to donate to your local charity sewing program like Project Linus – it all goes in the “used” column. Another WIN-WIN!

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