Over the weekend – actually, on Friday, my usual day off – I set about basting as many quilts as I had ready to go that also had batting available. In one of the Craftsy classes I signed up for the awesome Leah Day showed us how to baste quilts on a table and use elastics at the corner to secure the fabric and pull it taut.
Well I tried this and it worked so well I am in love with it! Of course I modified it slighty for my table and the quilts I was basting, but LOOK at the stack of quilts I got basted!
I even ran out of safety pins. And when I started I realized my mom had my Quick Klip tool, but I managed.
Even though my table is a nice sturdy wood table, I didn’t worry about scratching it with pins as it is already dinged and painted and stained and watermarked and just generally lived on.
I can also report that my back did not feel like I was eighty years old when I was done either. I did two baby quilts, two Christmas panels and a Christmas runner for my mom AND I did the markings on another larger quilt. I also watched three episodes of season three of Dr Who. So I accomplished quite a bit.
This quilt I am quilting a large Mariner’s Compass / Compass Rose on it. Can’t wait to see how it turns out, as long as I keep my eye on the right lines.
p.s – am I the only one who never has enough batting? Or the piece I have leftover is never quite big enough for the tops I have that need batting?
Love the compass! Brilliant!
But how do you secure the elastics? And what is a Kwik Klip Quilt Basting Tool? How does it work? Rookie quilters (well, this one anyway) want to know.
Pins! Just pin one end to the backing, loop the elastic under the corner and pin to the other side. 🙂
The Kwicj Klip helps you grab the end of the safety pin and pin it shut, to save wear and tear on the end of your finger.