basting away

this weekend i unexpectedly got some freetime and i decided to get some quilt tops out of the "needs a backing" queue and have a back-making & basting party. once i have quilt tops pieced, i enjoy moving several of them through the next phases to finishing in batches.

i had 5 completed tops that needed backings: "frosted forest star", "fall paint lake", "aunt bets mother's day", "melonaide brightside", and my crossroads quilt.

i had already ordered backings for "fall paint lake" and "aunt bets mother's day", so i started with making those two backings. the first was just two large prints sewn together - easy and done quickly. for "aunt bets" i wanted to add a strip of scraps from the top between the two large pieces i had selected for the back. that took a bit more time, but not much.

a little tip from when i was basting "fall paint lake" - the seam wasn't laying down well (i may have actually neglected to press it when i finished the back a few days ago), so i grabbed my little manual seam roller i keep at my sewing machine for pressing open small seams i don't want to do at the pressing table. i baste on my tile floor, which made a great place to press with the roller. it worked like a charm! i didn't have to untape the whole thing from the floor and wrestle it across the pressing table, which would have been so much more work.

friday night, when i got the two decided backings done, i took a break from backings and pieced a bunch of strips together for a fall scrap quilt i'm working on. then i started looking for a back for the "frosted forest star" and got stumped. it has very specific colors on the front, and not many at that. plus, it's supposed to feel like a winter forest, so i wanted any print i might use to fit that theme somehow. finding that combination proved impossible in my sewing room and online (where colors are especially hard to discern). i'm just going to keep my eyes open and wait that one out. or maybe eventually decide on a solid  backing in colors from the top.

that was basically the end of my productivity until this morning, when i knew i needed to either get those babies basted before anyone woke up or it wouldn't happen. it was finish up or clean up because there was an explosion of fabric all over the front part of the house and that needed to end. three days was enough.

i got up early and basted the first two quilts as soon as i rolled out of bed. that was going to be it, but i thought i should go ahead and see if i could quickly knock out "brightside", too. over the weekend i had begun to consider a butterfly print from the "stay gold" collection by kimberly kight for ruby star society. after i decided on it, i began to have a vague memory of maybe actually purchasing it for that purpose. remembering that would have saved me some time, for sure!

i had quite enough to make a full backing from just this one fabric, and i was tempted to do so, but i didn't feel like piecing it together because i didn't think i could do it in a way that would make me happy with the results. 

i remembered there were leftovers of a coordinating melon-colored sateen that we used as the backing for d5's "the pleasantest thing", and i decided to use that as another piece for this backing. they coordinated perfectly and i zipped that up quickly, too. the spray basting part takes maybe 25 minutes, start to finish, so i managed to get that done also.

this quilt happened to get the very last piece from my 2nd giant batting roll of "warm and natural" quilt batting. when i saw the roll was getting low last year, i tried to replace it with a new one from joann crafts, where i had purchased the 1st two, and discovered they no longer sold that brand. i couldn't locate it online, either. i don't know if the company folded or if joann crafts just switched brands. i've been satisfied with this brand and really liked having it on a roll at my disposal in my sewing room. i bought the new brand joann craft now carries, but it doesn't seem the same at all. i guess we'll see soon what it's like. it's the end of an era in my quilt making journey.

once i had "brightside" basted, i began putting away all the things i had pulled out of my sewing room and spread around the adjacent piano room floor over the weekend. there were also a few already basted projects i was taking stock of which i had laid out on the floor. when i pulled them up to put away, i found "crossroads" top laying there under them! i hade completely forgotten this was another top i wanted to get backed and basted.

i was supposed to be going to the pilates gym in less than an hour, but i was itching to see if i could get just one more basting job done, so i began rummaging through my stash to come up with a backing. i found enough yardage of a lovely heather bailey print to make up one side of a backing. if i was going to piece the rest from smaller fabric cuts, i wasn't going to be able to do it before going to the gym class, so i was looking for another large cut. there is lots of heather ross also in the "crossroads" top, but i couldn't seem to find a large piece.

then i spied the beautiful yellow sleeping beauty print and there was enough of it! most of the yellows in the top are more gold in color, so i was wavering a bit. i looked at the light blue owl and pussy cat print and rapunzel prints. they would have also coordinated well and been lovely backing picks, but i would have to order yardage of them, which would mean waiting to back and baste this quilt another day. so i decided to go the easier, more cost-effective route and used the sleeping beauty print. i'm happy with it, no regrets.

i hustled and got the two pieces sewn together, then basted as quickly as i could. i went 5 minutes over time, which would mean being a tiny bit late to class, but i was so happy i'd managed to get everything done.

then i tried to quickly rinse my feet off to remove the spray basting they had picked up, as well as the bits of thread and fuzz stuck to it. my girls had been saying all morning, "mom, your feet are so dirty!," and i knew they were right but i hadn't realized just how dirty they were. four spray bastings had taken it's toll. 

after a full minute i did not have trying to get everything off, i knew i was beat.

 

pilates is a barefoot practice at my studio and there was no way i was going in there with grimy, grey, sticky, thread-covered feet. so i missed my workout for the day.

but hey, i now have FOUR quilts backed and basted!

some spray basting thoughts

i've got a backing made, and this pink and navy improv quilt is now basted.

have i ever mentioned that i like to keep the paper label scraps from the batting roll and use them to cover the floor and baseboards around the quilt sandwich while i'm spray basting? the warm and white batting roll (i get mine at joann crafts with a 40% off coupon) comes with a thin paper label wound with all the layers of batting, so whenever i unroll some batting for a new quilt, i also get a long strip of paper to rip off.

by putting it down on the perimeter of my quilt when i'm basting, it protects the floor and keeps any sticky mist from settling on what's nearby. currently i have enough paper to go 3 deep around the quilt. i also have two old towels i keep tucked away in my sewing room for this purpose. i usually lay the towels over the carpeted staircase base or at my sewing room doors, depending on where i've positioned the quilt.

when i'm done with all the basting, i put all the paper strips in a stack and roll them up to stow away with the towels. they don't take up much room at all and really help keep things neat and tidy when i'm spraying that adhesive everywhere. i do try to stay very close to where i'm spraying on the quilt layers, just a few inches away, but the mist still floats a bit sometimes, especially on the perimeter of the quilt. i've got plenty of photos of gummy feet or socks to prove it. (if you followed the "socks" link, obviously i got on the spray basting train! thank you, odif 505.)

some people use old sheets for this, which would also work well. i like the convenience and compactness of the batting roll label. plus, i'm upcycling the papers.

when i was pulling the tape off the basted quilt once it was together today, i had another idea to try.

i'm rather notorious for sewing the extra ends of the backing to the quilt body while i'm quilting. that's one of the reasons i don't give myself as much wiggle room as i should when making the batting and backing larger than the quilt top. standard is 3-4" on all sides. my margins are often closer to 1-2". i also hate the waste, so i make my overage a lot smaller than i "should," in most cases.

today i noticed that the excess batting around the quilt top was sticky and i decided to fold the excess backing over to the top of the batting. i think this might help keep it out of the way when i'm quilting! there's certainly less flopping around now. i'll let you know how it works.

a just for fun photo because i noticed my dress was coordinating with the quilt backing.

here's one more color coordinated photo: my backing fabric and new pink steam iron. i'm giving this oliso iron a try. i don't really know much about it, but someone (can't remember who?) recommended it. i saw a discount code at suzyquilts.com, and ordered it direct from the company for 20% off and free shipping (suzyquilts20).

today is my first time using it. the whole smart handle/retractable platform/horizontal resting is quite new to me. i've only used it on the backing today, so i can't really say what i think. but it did do a really nice, tight job on getting my backing seams wide open and flat.

again, i'll report back when i've had more experience with it.

pins and more liberty

i haven't pin basted a quilt in ages. in fact, when i decided i wanted to pin baste this quilt, i had no idea where my pins were being stored in my sewing room. i had to spend some time hunting them down.

as a side note - that room is such a mess. it really needs some attention! but look what i found in there while i was searching for pins:

i got to have another small #chocolateonquilts moment when i stumbled across these dark chocolate covered graham crackers with sea salt, from trader joe's. totally scrumptious and addictive. i was surprised i found a box with a few left in it because i normally devour them all in a few days. you've been warned - stay away! unless you need to sweeten up your pin basting experience.

actually, i quite like pin basting, the process of it. the push of the pin and the give as it slides into the fabric are quite satisfying. it's a similar sensation to hand sewing.

i used to be a die-hard pin basting fan, partly due to the fact that my 4th daughter, here known as d4, used to really like to take the pins out of the quilt once it was done. it was her quilting job and we both liked that.

however, i found that the best way to overcome the issues my juki has with straighline quilting is to spray baste my quilts. and, my goodness, is it so much faster and easier and more convenient. so now i do it for most all my quilts.

yes, there is some expense involved.
and some mess.
and i've read that the spray might weaken/damage the quilt's materials a bit in the longrun. (it's probably not best to have the glues in there for months/years before you complete the quilting and wash the quilt. like i do.) who knows for sure?

regardless of all that, i am a converted spray baster.

not having to stop in the middle of my fmq flow to remove pins while quilting (or having to worry about running over them when i don't stop - done that) is one other large argument in the favor of spray basting.

plus, you can have as many quilts basted at one time as you want. no waiting for your pins to be freed up. this may be a perk or it may enable bad habits. i'm undecided on that point.

the fact that i have a large, wide hallway of ceramic tile on which to do my spray basting only makes it that much easier for me to succumb.

speaking of that tile floor, here's another side note - basting of either kind, when done on the floor, especially on tile, can be hard on the knees. so just do like i do and lay on your belly.

truly, i don't normally lay on my belly to baste so i'm not sure why i was in this photo. maybe because i was trying to get out of the way of the photo i asked my daughter to take of my hands pinning? she thought it was funny to take this full-body shot instead. it is kind of funny, so enjoy.

end of that tangent.
where was i?

yes, i just said i was a converted spray baster.

and here i am pin basting.

i am handquilting this 'liberty makes do too' quilt, so i pin basted it. spray basting and handquilting don't mix as well as machine quilting and glue sprays.

so i got to enjoy the process of old-fashioned pin basting on this little beauty.

all the chocolate was eaten. all the pins were placed.

and now i am at my leisure to enjoy the contentment of handquilting this liberty and crossweave quilt.

wouldn't it be nice if i always have my pins in a handquilting project because i like having one on hand. that is a quilty goal i could aspire to.