How To Baste A Quilt

This is the next post in the “How To Make A Quilt” tutorial series.

We finished the top and back pieces of our quilt in the last post.
Click the link to see the Baby Name Quilt: Tutorial.
Now the next step is to make a quilt sandwich by basting it.

You will need: batting, which you can get in a bag or by the yard, masking (or painters) tape,
safety pins, and a spoon.

Let’s get started! 🙂

First, lay out your batting. Smooth it flat, getting ride of the wrinkles as much as you can.
You will want plenty of excess on the sides of the quilt.
(I had scraps of batting and decided to use it since it won’t be washed much.
For most quilts, you will want a full piece of batting.)

Now lay your quilt top on top of the batting.
Again, smooth out the wrinkles.

Next, roll up the batting and quilt top.

Now we are going to tape down our bottom piece.

You want to do this on a hard surface. Tile is generally best. I don’t have tile, so I do my basting in my unfinished basement. Many people do this on their wood or laminate floors and are just fine. Keep in mind that you will be pinning the quilt so the safety pin will hit the floor.

When you are taping your bottom piece down, you will want to smooth all the wrinkles out.

Now roll your quilt top and batting down onto the bottom piece.
Smooth it out.

Make sure there is at least an excess of 1 1/2″ of batting and your bottom quilt piece
around your quilt top.

Now we are ready to do the basting!

Get your spoon and safety pins out.
The spoon is wonderful so you don’t have to poke yourself and makes getting the safety pin closed easy.

Pin the safety pins around the quilt every five inches or so.
I go along the bottom, smoothing out the wrinkles, and then do the next row.

Here are some pictures of how you will use the spoon.
I was skeptical at first, but now I can’t imagine basting without it!

And here are some pictures of where I placed my safety pins so you can get an idea of what it looks like.
Sorry the pictures are so dark and the safety pins are hard to see. Basting in the basement with no natural light makes things difficult! 🙂

When you are finished pinning, pull the tape up.

Now cut off any large excess of the batting and bottom piece.
Like I mentioned before, you want about 1 1/2″ or more of the batting and bottom piece
coming off the sides.

Check the back of the quilt and make sure there are no wrinkles.
If there are some big wrinkles, you will want to redo this process.

Now you are ready to quilt!
Get excited! 🙂

As always, please leave a comment, suggestion, or question if you have any.
You can also email me at shirley@theribbonretreat.com. 🙂