Wednesday, June 22, 2011

To Pin or Not to Pin


What do you do? I usually pin my quilts. I have friends that use spray adhesive and ones that pin. And I have friends that work small art quilts, so they don't have to do either. I've tried spray basting before, but the quilt still shifted and I didn't like the layer of adhesive going through my machine and gooping up my needle. I just grab my bowl of quilting pins and Kwip Klip and pin.

Oh, like my little bowl? It is very special to me. My step-son made one year in elementary school and gave it to me for Mother's Day. Sweet memories every time I see it and use it. I've been using it for over 20 years now!

My worktable was designed so the height is easy for me to pin on, really saves my back. I use binder clips on the edges to hold the layers in place and depending on the size, I may use blue painters tape too.

So, my quilting friends, what do you do? Let me hear from you!

3 comments:

QuiltingCyclist said...

Dear Jules, I have done both. But, after reading a very detailed post from our friend Frieda Anderson on using basting spray, I tried her method on a single bed quilt. This is a pretty good size quilt. To my surprise, it worked very well. I worked on the floor. Did have to mop it afterwards. And, it was a bed quilt and I could wash it easily to get the residue out. Had no problem with my needle & gunk. I expect I will use this method again after this success. It took no longer than pinning and was excellent for the quilting. I used June Tailor basting spray from my local WalMart. Take a look at Frieda's Blog - Walk in the Woods - for her post.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jules-
I found a really great technique that looks foolproof for basting quilts together. The instructions are on two YouTube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhwNylePFAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_EjBGz5vGQ&feature=related

Let me know if you try it and what you think.
Katina

Jules Rushing said...

Thanks Mona and Katina! I'll keep trying different methods and let you know my opinion!