Thursday, March 5, 2009

Cutting it close

On Tuesday I was able to use some comp time - but I stayed at work thinking I could pin baste some quilts.



Talk about cutting it close with this one - it is this close on both of the long edges of this quilt:


But the back is all one piece. I think it will work.



And then I brought this one, which has been in top done only stage since last August or so. This one is going to my Mom:


The only problem is I never pieced the back. I washed it, dried it and ironed it, but never pieced it (what you are seeing is 2 layers of backing and the quilt top folded in half). So I wasn't able to get as much done as I thought I was going to. Oh well.....there is always another day! Guess that will teach me to check before loading everything up to bring down here.

Speaking of basting - does anyone use the sprays to baste with rather than pins? How do they hold up? Does the quilt shift? Does it gunk up your needles. I have a rather annoying problem with running over safety pins, but hate to mess up my machine......

16 comments:

Niki said...

I've used the spray on all my quilts. It is fine for both machine and hand quilting. I pop a hoop on and off the quilt and have had no problem with shifting.
So, I say go ahead :)

SewAmy said...

I use the 505 basting spray and LOVE it. I haven't pin basted a quilt in a year.

Lib said...

Hey Kris,
Love your colors.:o)
Have a great day!
Blessins',Lib

Patty said...

I misjudged once and after the quilting was complete I ended up having to cut the quilt smaller because the backing shifted and I had a gap on one side. Good luck with yours; hopefully it will all come out just fine.

Spray basting? I too have wondered about using this; if you give it a try be sure to blog about it.

Granny Lyn said...

I use the 505 spray basting and will never go back to pins...it does NOT gunk up the needle, or the machine, and I used it on the yellow hand quilted one and it lasted for over 3 months, yet it washes out when you're done. Good stuff!!

Scrappy quilter said...

Holy smoke, I'm going to go out and buy some. I do not like pinning and if this works and the quilt top doesn't shift, then it's for me.

Love your colors too.

Janice said...

Coming by to see what you have been up to. This is quite a project you are working on. It is really pretty. I am not a quilter so it is a good thing other ladies knew what to tell you.
Have a nice day!!

Susan said...

I use 505 spray baste and it works well for me. I have had no problems.

Sorry to hear that your basting was cut short.

Kristie said...

I love your quilts! I love how you make your pieced backings, they look great!
Kristie

Gill - That British Woman said...

I use the spray all the time, and have had no problem with it at all....

Gill in Canada

LuAnn said...

Your quilts are great. I've never used the basting spray. I just pin the old fashioned way. But, I did invest in a big folding table so I don't have to get down on the floor anymore to baste. My hubby bought me some clamps at Lowes that I use to clamp the quilt to the table to pin it. Works really well.

Gina said...

Great quilts. I've come up short once or twice aswell.
I've never used the spray baste so I'll be interested in how you get on.

love and hugs Gina xxx

Unknown said...

Well Done on what you have accomplished - as you say there is always another day !!!

Have a great day today - happy crafting - or cooking ! Or farming ....

Vanessa

Cheryl said...

Shoot, I'm a day late. But I used 505 basting spray on my auction quilt and it held up fine. The only drawback, and I'm not even sure it was the spray, was that I got a lot of lint on the black fabric. But it could have just been that I was using a lot of black and it showed up a lot. I loved it. I might have used a half a can, but even then, it was worth it to not have to crawl all over the floor. I think if I were doing a large quilt, I might put a pin in every 18 inches or so, just in case part of it got caught on something. But that's all I'd do. I will rarely pin again.

Valerie the Pumpkin Patch Quilter said...

I have never tried spray basting, but I *believe* I remember Libby over at A Simple Girl did a post a VERY long time about explaining how she spray bastes. You might want to ask her or check her blog...http://simplylibby.blogspot.com

Valerie the Pumpkin Patch Quilter said...

I meant to say a very long time ago... lol*