A Quilted story, part two: the thrill of the baste

 I have a friend who always begins his stories with “So there I was...” and that seems a pretty apt start to this tale. So there I was, with a king-sized quilt top, backing and batting, trying to figure out how I was going to get this crazy-big thing laid out for layering and basting.

Layering and basting a big quilt is a process that requires a big, clean, flat surface. First the backing fabric is laid out, right side facing down, as that will be the bottom or back of the quilt. Next the fluffy batting is laid on top of that, the filling for the quilt sandwich. Finally the quilt top is placed right side up on the batting, the top of the quilt. Basting involves holding the three layers together temporarily so the layers don’t shift around during the actual quilting process (sewing stitches either by machine or hand through all three layers). There are many ways to baste a quilt, depending on the size. For big quilts, I either put long basting stitches through the layers, radiating from the center of the quilt outward, or I use safety pins at intervals in the same radiating pattern. Either way, you have to make sure all three layers are staying flat and not bunching up during the basting process. Otherwise you’ve got ridges and folds and wrinkles in the batting and back...NO BUENO!! 

Are you exhausted just reading this? Yeah, I know how you feel. This is my least favorite step in quilt making, which is to say that I hate it. Also loathe, dread, despise and abhor. Thus began a quest to figure out a space big enough to accomplish this loathsome process. I worried about it, I dreamt about it, I wracked my brain for a way to do it.

Well. You know that funny way that things sometimes have of working themselves out? That happened! At roughly the same time I was fretting about this, I was also moving into a new apartment with a bedroom that would be temporarily empty and...viola! That bedroom floor was a big, flat, clean surface. Yippee skippee.

The batting is so big that you can’t even see the backing on the bottom. This was step one, and I smoothed it out as much as possible, then folded it up to transfer it onto a table so I could baste it in sections. If it weren’t for the bad back and wonky knee, I could have just kept it on the floor and basted it. But there is a bad back and a wonky knee to consider, so folding and moving to a table was the viable option...

I opened it up and draped it over some chairs, gently stretching and smoothing along the way...

Look at that! I decided that I’d baste this bad boy with safety pins, mainly because I didn’t have any long basting needles on hand and I didn’t feel like trekking to Joann’s to buy some. The customers at Joann’s have been making me nervous lately, as many of them don’t pay attention to social distancing and wearing a mask properly. And by properly, I mean covering your mouth and your nose. This is a hot button for me! Wearing a mask and social distancing during a deadly pandemic is a public health issue, not a damn political statement! Okay. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, basting with safety pins. Good grief, how did I go down that pandemic rabbit hole? I suppose because the pandemic affects all of our everyday choices. ANYway, back to the baste: now I’m ready to assemble my toys. I mean tools, very very important tools!

They make these cool curved safety pins specifically for this purpose, easier to get through multiple layers. Also essential is a tool that quickly catches the bar on the pin and closes it up. While this may seem frivolous at first glance, after you’ve gotten to your 200th pin without your fingers cramping into claws...not so much! 🤷‍♀️

So I pinned in sections, smoothing and stretching. After completing a section, I’d move the quilt around on the table. One benefit of working on a table is that gravity works with you, as the weight of the overhanging sections of the quilt help to keep the section on top of the table pretty flat and taut as you’re working on it. So there’s that, yay gravity finally being helpful!

This whole basting thing took a few days, off and on. After the basting was finished, I was Pretty Excited! On account of the aforementioned feelings of dread, fear, loathing, etc., etc., ad nauseum around this whole step.

Join in for the next installment of A Quilted Story, in which our intrepid heroine (that would be moi, in case you haven’t been paying attention) embarks upon her next adventure: the Wrangling of the Beast for Machine Sewing! Excitement! Non-stop thrills! Small and bloody stabby accidents with pins and stuff! Weighty decisions about hand quilting! Honey, you know you don’t wanna miss it.🪡🧵

❤️Bonnie