Three Common Ways to Baste Your Quilt

Here are three common ways to baste your quilt before quilting. In all cases, your backing fabric should be taut (whether weighted or taped down). Remember the goal is to have a smooth, wrinkle free quilt!

Not a product endorsement. This is just what I happen to have on hand in the studio currently.

Easiest: basting spray. This is a temporary fabric adhesive that will lightly adhere the fabrics to the batting. Best use is to spray on batting, not on backing or quilt top. It washes out.

This is not a product review, so I do not feel comfortable stating which basting spray is better than another at this point. However, my studio experiences have been that some basting sprays are cleaner or more effective than others. Some leave stains, and others are noxious in odor or aerosolization. I tend to use basting sprays only under the following conditions: it is a small piece, the piece is washable, and there is minimal to no white fabric in it. Be aware that sometimes your machine needle can get gummy from the basting spray.

Most Common: pin-basting. This requires using safety pins to pin through all three layers of quilt to hold it together before quilting. Curved quilting safety pins are best. They tend to be sharper (especially if they have not been used for anything else), and the curve in the pin makes it easier to slide the pin down and back up through the layers.

Pins should be placed every 3” – 4” (8 cm – 10 cm). Leave the pins open until all pins are in place. This way, you can look on the back to see which ones didn’t go all the way through. Once all pins are in place, secure them shut. Some people use a “Kwik-Klip” tool to close the safety pins. I don’t use one, but apparently it saves sore fingers and reduces pin stabbings, especially if you make many, large quilts.

Darkwind (2019) pin-basted and being quilted

Professional: hand/thread basting. Originating from the atelier/tailor/fashion world, this type of basting is a modification of what tailors use for basting suits, for example. This works well on larger pieces that have complicated or intricate quilting, and especially if you don’t want to start quilting in the middle and work out from there. This technique holds the three layers more sturdily than the previous two. Unlike with pins, the layers won’t slip along the basting threads, so movement is minimal. An advantage to this style of basting is you can start quilting anywhere on the quilt! Just snip out the basting in a 6” area, quilt, and continue.

I use a heavy pearl cotton thread to baste in a herringbone fashion. This way it is easier to pull out the basting as I quilt. If your quilt will be washable, you can use a water-soluble thread for basting. However, those tend to be thinner than the pearl cotton.

(To see a good video tutorial of this technique, click here: https://youtu.be/bhwNylePFAA )