Quilt Finishing Series Part II: Pin Basting

Quilt Finishing Series Part II: Pin Basting

Welcome back to my quilt finishing series! This is part 2 of 3. To read part 1 on preparing a quilt backing, click here. Part 3 will be linked at the end of this post.

This post is all about pin basting! When I was first learning to quilt, I was told that basting is difficult and a pain and that I should just take my quilts to a longarmer. This made me very intimidated to baste my quilts! Longarmers do amazing work; but I just didn't have the budget to do that often, especially as the number of quilts I was making kept increasing. So I resolved to learn how to baste and quilt my own quilts.

The first time I basted a quilt, it was a throw size and I had very little idea of what I was doing. It turned out all right with just a few puckers, but I wanted it to be better. I practiced on smaller quilted projects and wall hangings. This is truly one of those things that "practice makes improvement". I rarely have puckers in my quilts anymore, and am confident enough in my basting that I can do denser, more intricate walking foot quilting without having issues.

Although there are few different basting methods, I'm going to explain how I baste my quilts using pins. Pin basting is my favorite method because it is cost effective, holds well, and is environmentally friendly compared to other methods. It's also goes fairly quickly once you get comfortable with it.

Materials

There are 3 tools that I highly recommend for pin basting:

  • Size 2 curved safety pins (Mine are these from Dritz.)
  • Kwik Klip- I've heard that this company stopped making them, but you can still find them online.
  • Frog Tape- I like the 1.41" wide, and usually buy in bulk. I've tried a few different masking and painters tapes, but this is by far my favorite. It holds well to the fabric and floor, but doesn't leave any residue.

Let's get started!

First, on a large, hard floor space (I use my kitchen floor), lay out your quilt backing right side down. Tearing off about 6" of tape at a time, tape your quilt backing to the floor. Start with the corners. Tape the first corner down, then go to an adjacent corner. Pull it taut, but not so hard that it's stretching out of shape. Tape down that corner, then move on to the others.

Move around the edges of the quilt, taping them down every few inches in the same manner: Pull the edge taut and tape it down. Adjust the corners if you need to. By the the time you've gone all the way around, there should be no visible waves in the fabric. It should lay completely flat.

Next, you will layer your batting on top of the quilt backing. Batting should be a couple inches larger than your quilt top on all sides, but slightly smaller than the quilt backing. Starting in the center and working outward, use your hands to smooth down the batting to the backing. This too should lay completely flat.

To complete your quilt sandwich, lay your quilt top, right side up, on top of the batting. Once again starting in the center and working outward, smooth out the quilt top. This is important! The flatter and smoother your layers are, the less chance there will be of puckering when you quilt.

Once everything is nice and flat, it's time to start the actual basting. Gather your curved safety pins and your Kwik Klip, if you have it. If you don't have the Kwik Klip, you can just use your fingers.

Start in the center of the quilt and start pinning. Make sure the safety pin goes through all three layers. I can usually feel the pin slide against the floor and that's how I know it's through. Pin about every 4", continuing to smooth out toward the edges as you go. I usually will sit on one side of the quilt and pin half of it, then I'll move to the opposite side to pin the other half. 

This part can seem slow and tedious, but practice is the key here! The more you practice, the quicker it will get. I recommend listening to music, a podcast, or a favorite movie as you baste. 

After your entire quilt sandwich is pinned, that's it! Peel up the tape that is holding the backing to the floor and your quilt is now ready to be quilted! 

Quilt as desired*, and I'll meet you back here for the third and final part of this series: binding!

*This series does not get into the actual quilting. There are endless options for quilting, so that will have to be another series entirely. If you are a beginner quilter, I would recommend straight lines or a simple crosshatch. 

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