Welcome to Day 1 of the Back to School Blog Hop! I’m kicking it off with a video tutorial on how to spray baste a quilt that’s bigger than your table.
The video is the entire process in one take. If you’re pressed for time and need to skip through some of the repetitive parts of basting a large quilt, here are some places to fast-forward to for catching the high points:
- 00:30 Different clip options for different tables
- 01:15 Start basting down the center of the quilt
- 08:30 Moving the center of the quilt for the first time
- 13:00 Moving the center of the quilt for the second time
- 17:00 Moving the center of the quilt for the last time
- 20:30 Center of the quilt is finished, rotating the quilt and moving to the sides
- 24:30 Moving the side of the quilt up
- 27:30 End of first side, moving to second side
I mention some clamps/clips in the opening that work on the thick, white, plastic tables. You can get those here.
If you’re using regular binder clips, buy the big 2” variety (1” capacity).
My favorite spray baste is 505 Spray and Fix Temporary Fabric Adhesive.
All links are not affiliate 🙂
(Huge thanks to Cheryl for loaning me a big quilt to baste!)
I hope you follow the rest of the hop as there’s some fantastic content coming your way! BTW, the contributors are from all over the world, so please be patient is everything is not posted at bright and early in your exact timezone!
Day 1 – August 15 – Sam Hunter: How to spray baste a BIG quilt – www.huntersdesignstudio.com <—- you are here!
Day 2 – August 16 – Mandy Leins: Thread Dread: removing stray bits after quilting – www.mandalei.com
Day 3 – August 17 – Nancy Stovall: The Sweet Creamy Filling – www.justquiltingpdx.com
Day 4 – August 18 – Ebony Love: 7 Indispensible feet for your sewing machine – www.LoveBugStudios.com
Day 5 – August 19 – Michelle Freedman: Machine throat plates – www.designcamppdx.blogspot.com
Day 6 – August 20 – Teresa Coates: Edge/Under/Top stitching – www.crinkledreams.com
Day 7 – August 21 – Kelly Cole: Ten ways to regain your sew-jo – www.vintagefabricstudio.com
Day 8 – August 22 – Megan Dougherty: Choose to Fuse: tips for working with fusibles for applique – www.thebitchystitcher.com
Day 9 – August 23 – Kim Lapacek: Tricks to being productive while hauling your kids around – www.persimondreams.blogspot.com
Day 10 – August 24 – Yvonne Fuchs: Circuitboard quilting on Domestic and Longarm Machines – www.quiltingjetgirl.com
Day 11 – August 25 – Sandi Hazlewood: Chain Piecing Quilt Blocks Tips – www.craftyplanner.com
Day 12 – August 26 – Juliet van der Heijden: Paper-piecing with children – www.thetartankiwi.com
Day 13 – August 27 – Maddie Kertay: Fabric folding for any storage solution – www.badassquilterssociety.com
Day 14 – August 28 – Cath Hall: Working with Lawn fabric – www.wombatquilts.com
Day 15 – August 29 – Tracy Mooney: Tips for the perfect seam – www.sewmuchcosplay.com
Day 16 – August 30 – Teri Lucas: How to bury thread – www.terificreations.com
Day 17 – August 31 – Debby Brown: Securing machine quilting knots – www. higheredhands.blogspot.com
Day 18 – September 1 – Flaun Cline: How to put some sparkle in your fabric pull (part 1) – www.ipleadquilty.com
Day 19 – September 2 – Jessica Darling: How to put some sparkle in your fabric pull (part 2) – www.jessicakdarling.com
Day 20 – September 3 – Trish Frankland: A bigger blade really IS better?! – www.persimondreams.blogspot.com
Day 21 – September 4 – Robin Koehler: Tips on how to travel with handwork – www.nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com
Day 22 – September 5 – Jane Davidson: How to make scrappy HSTs – www.quiltjane.com
Day 23 – September 6 – Linda Pearl: Low cost tips for organizing your sewing room – www.onequiltingcircle.com
Day 24 – September 7 – Christa Watson – Top 10 tips for quilting on a domestic machine – www.christaquilts.com
Day 25 – September 8 – Sarah Nunes: To Starch or Not to Starch – www.berrybarndesigns.com
Day 26 – September 9 – Suzy Webster: Testing fabric for bleeding – www.websterquilt.blogspot.com
Day 27 – September 10 – Sarah Goer: Machine bind your quilts like a pro – www.sarahgoerquilts.com
Day 28 – September 11 – Vanda Chittenden: Beginner paper-piecing tips – www.chittenden.co.za
Day 29 – September 12 – Cheryl Sleboda: Needle threading tips – www.muppin.com
Day 30 – September 13 – Kim Niedzwiecki – Different thread weights and when to use them – www.gogokim.com
Day 31 – September 14 – Sandra Healy: Conquer Your Fear of Machine Appliqué – www.sandrahealydesigns.com
Day 32 – September 15 – Sandra Starley: The Basics of Antique Quilt Collecting – www.utahquiltappraiser.blogspot.com
Wow! The video is great. I’ve seen other spray basting videos before, but no one has taken the time to do a whole quilt. Usually they do one side and leave us hanging with “you get the idea.” Now I really get it. Thank you so much.
I think this would apply to pinning a quilt, too.
Yes, it works the same with pinning… I learned to pin this way (although I learned to start at the center and move out)
This looks like an awesome series! Thank you for hosting.
I’m excited about the line-up too!
A great video and a wonderful job explaining how to do a large quilt. I usually go with smaller projects – I did a large one earlier this year, and it was an eyeopener. For day 1, you set the bar high!
I did a small quilt basting video a while back, and the ONE question I get a lot is “but what about a big one?” So just trying to be responsive!!
Yippee! I loved this blog hop last year, because I learned so much, and I’m looking forward to this year’s offerings. Today’s video was great. Watching you work, and finish the whole thing so quickly, was a real AHA! moment. No more crouching on the floor! No more awkward boards with quilt top and batting rolled around them! I really appreciated watching you work out wrinkles in the backing or top.
PS I assume your first can ran out of spray because it wasn’t full to begin with.
You’re welcome! And yes… my starting can was not full… I’d say it was less than half.
good tips
thank you!
GREAT Video. I’ll never crawl around on the floor again! Thank you
Yay for saving backs and knees!
YES!!
This is great! I’ve been dreading basting because of my cranky back, but this looks much better than crawling around on the floor.
And thanks for basting this one for me, now I have no excuse to put off quilting it!
I appreciate the loan of the quilt!
Loved the video so much I basted a quilt after I watched it! I have a ping pong table and my quilt was smaller than that, but it was still the largest quilt I’ve ever basted. Your technique translated well to what I was doing! It went better than it ever has gone before! (And I agree with a previous comment – thanks for doing the whole quilt in the video!)
YAY! I’m so glad it was helpful!
Thank you for the great video. I pin baste and have used a similar method for about four years. I posted your video on our guild’s FB page. I know it will be appreciated. Have a wonderful quilty day!
Thank you for the sharing, Ruth!
Thanks!
Such a good video. Like many others, I appreciated you doing the entire quilt.
Looking forward to seeing all the other postings.
You’re welcome!
Thank you for such a great video! I’ve only spray basted once and the video I watched had you hang it on the wall to do it. I like this way better, plus I can do a larger quilt. My one concern is with overspray. I rent and my kitchen floor is vinyl tile connected to my livingroom which is carpet. How much should I cover?
I would drop cloth everything you can… the sticky gets everywhere!
Thank you so much for this great video! Putting the “sandwich” together is my least favorite part of quilting. Hopefully using clamps as you have here will improve my attitude about this process as well as the final product!
Since I found spray baste I quit using pins – and one of the good things is it’s so much faster, so less holding my body in uncomfortable ways!
Wow!!!! You are amazing being able to spray baste such a large quilt in such a small allotment of time…..by yourself. I could not help but wish someone was there with you to help with the clips and positioning. Thank you for the video. I have only tried spray basting once. I made a huge mess…
It definitely goes faster with a pal on board… sometimes I group a basting session with friends and we all help each other!
[…] Day 1 – August 15 – Sam Hunter: How to spray baste a BIG quilt […]
[…] you Sam Hunter from Hunter’s design studios, for planning this series of tutorials and tips. There has been some really good reviews on a lot […]