Pin Baste a Quilt Tutorial

If you need to know
 how to baste a quilt for machine quilting,
 this post is for you.
Follow these simple steps and save

your aching back and knees.

First, fold your backing, batting, and quilt top.
At the fold of each layer place a pin.

Drape the backing over a table, placing the pin at the

center of the table. Center the fabric over the table.

On the sides, make sure fabric is an even

distance from the floor.

Clamp the fabric tight at each corner of the table,

being careful to smooth out all wrinkles.

Because of the width of my table, I used a set of clamps

from my husband's workshop. These work great for

any width table and are easily adjustable by squeezing

the handle and sliding it along the metal tracking bar.

Carefully drape the batting over the table and

smooth all wrinkles. Reposition the clamps on

top of the batting being careful to keep both layers tight.

 (In the photo, one corner has the clamp

repositioned and the other corner does not.)

Check to make sure the pins are lined up on all sides.

 Depending on the length of your project and table,

 the fabric may puddle onto the floor. 

Drape the quilt top over the table, and follow the

same procedure described above.

Begin the pinning process being sure that all layers are

tightly secured by the clamps.

This is a good time to trim all stray threads.
 It will end up

saving you time as you machine quilt.

Place pins on the entire surface area of the table.

If you are new to quilting, a good rule of thumb is to

place pins about a hands width apart.

Depending on the size of your quilt, you may need to

reposition the entire project. Once all the fabric on the
table top  has been pinned, simply readjust the quilt on

 the table top and reposition clamps making sure

all layers are tightly held.
 Repeat until entire quilt is basted with pins.

Here is the final product. All layers appear to be fairly even

except for the batting that is overhanging on the right side.

Apparently the photographer was paying too much attention

to taking photos, which affected quality control.

If you try this method to baste your

 next quilting project,

I'd love to hear from you!

Please note that due to an increasing amount of spam, comments have been disallowed on this post. Thanks for all your kind comments.

May you always Sew in Peace!

Sandra