Today, I began a new love affair.
For the first time, I used basting spray to baste my quilt. This is something of a monster size quilt for me - it's 73" x 67". Maybe not huge for some quilters, but that size is about the limit of the floor space I have without moving shelving or a sofa to lay it out and baste it. So, pinning it would have been a time sucking nightmare. Not to mention how sore my back would have been after it.
I have been cutting and piecing the top of this quilt speedily all week in order to meet a birthday deadline. This quilt is for the niece of one of my real life BFFs, Helen and it is a Russian doll themed quilt, for more than a few reasons. Helen asked me to make it as big as I could and it is a truly generous lap size I think.
This morning, when I finished piecing the backing strips, I took myself off to the strangely tidy playroom, opened the patio doors and got spraying. I got some great tips from Judith and read Kristie's great spray basting tute. I flew through it and it went perfectly, although I was a bit heavy handed with the spray at the start. I cannot tell you how much I love this product. Seriously brilliant stuff and I can't believe how quickly I had my quilt basted. I'm a convert :-)
Here it is, all ready for quilting, earlier today and at this stage I have half of it stippled. Despite the fact that handling a quilt this size for free motion quilting is something akin to wrestling a walrus, the quilting is going very well. Not having to unpin every few minutes is so liberating and I haven't encountered any problems with puckers or rippling so far.
I got the spray from my fave fabric genie, Janette in River Fabrics and, because she couriered it rather than post (because of postal regulations) I got a few cans and some fabric and Aurifil threads, making the shipping super reasonable per item. I will be interested to see how many quilts I get out of a can (I bought the large size). For now, I'm still in love!
20 comments:
I've not yet tried the spray - I tend to hand quilt most of my quilts so I seem to spend a lot of time tacking!
P.S. Love the sneak peek of the quilt!
I have spray basted two quilts, about the same size as yours. Since both of them are the first quilts I've ever quilted (Before I always had someone longarm quilt), I can't imagine pinning a quilt. Love 505 spray!
I love spray baste too! I did find though that using it for a super large project (queen size quilt), I ran into more problems than using it for a small project. It seemed like with all the handling of the quilt during the machine quilting process, the basting lost a bit of its "stick" by the time I got to the last section and I ended up peeling back fabric and re-spraying a few times. BUT that said, I think I sprayed a bit too lightly to begin with. Hope it works out well for you!!
Welcome to the "dark" side :)! Like Heather, I do sometimes think I under spray...so don't be too stingy on the bigger sized quilts!!
SNAP! I too have used 505 spray for the first time today! It worked like a dream for me. Goodbye pins. It is a brilliant product. I would love to stipple a quilt but feel too afraid to do it. I am therefore stitching in the ditch.
Welcome to the official Walrus Wrestling Society. I have been lonely as the only member and am happy to welcome you. I will be interested in how many quilts you get from one can of the spray as well because I have not bought any due to the cost in my LQS. If it does a number of quilts I might be able to justify it but if not I think I will have to continue pinning for a while longer.
Yay- told you it was great!!
I have a second can, although the first isn't empty - just got to the point where a squirt on mini-quilts/mug rugs is still OK, but too much shaking needed for a big one!
I have used the first large can since May - doing the Confetti Pips, Scrappy Happy, Dad's Union Jack, Mum's D9P, my Across the Sea and 1/2 the Man Quilt plus a few smaller bits and bobs - just gone through my flickr to check! So not bad for about £12!
OOh, thanks for reminding me!
wohoo! So glad you liked it. Spray basting is my favorite!
Huh, so exactly how much walrus wrestling have you done in your life...? ;o)
Anywho, I have a can of this, and I'm itching to try it. Guess I'd better get on with making a quilt top, eh?
Oh, yes! Welcome to the other side! I love this spray, use it all the time.
I really want to try it out. I'm really not good at basting and if it's a really big quilt I always end up with problems with the backing fabric puckering. I wonder if the spray baste will help with that?
I love the way you say you "haven't encountered any problems with puckers or rippling SO FAR" as though you don't want to tempt fate by sounding too cocky! Good luck, it will be great to see the finish!
It's brilliant stuff isn't it. I hate pins, they take me forever and I dont get as good results as I do with spray! Glad you are getting on well with it and that quilt is looking mighty fine I must say
Does it cause any problems with your sewing machine?
i must order some, looks like it's the business!
Oh I saw this on the River Fabrics web site this week...you were on the ball!
Girl, what took you so long?!?! Hate to say I told you so....lol! Just glad you tried it and it works! I love the stuff myself, cannot imagine ever going back to pins. I am sure love at first spray will mature into a long lasting relationship :)
Wow! I've never tried it! And I won't even convert to pinning--I actually baste my quilts which takes a good hour or two!
I used mine for the first time yesterday and I am definately a convert. look forward to seeing it all quilted and finished
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