Spray Basting on the Design Wall

How stinking cute is the fabric I found for the backing of my Midnight at the Oasis? I bought it at The Common Thread in Dahlonega, Ga. If you haven't been there since May, you MUST go see their gorgeous renovations! But this is supposed to be a tutorial on spray basting, so lets get to it...

How I spray baste a quilt sandwich on my design wall:

To view the tutorial on how to make a design wall click HERE.

Step 1:

I layer the backing, batting and quilt top on the design wall. Smooth each layer out and pin every 10-12'' around the outside edge. See the pins? I always press my backing fabric first and then smooth the batting very well. I will be quilting this on my machine so I only leave about 2'' of extra backing and batting around the edges. Longarm quilters require more space around the edge, but I like to reduce the bulk that I will be feeding through my machine.

Step 2:

I add a row of pins across the middle of the quilt to secure the layers. I then unpin and peel back the top half of the quilt and the batting. I spray the backing, smooth the batting back into place and spray the batting layer. I then carefully smooth the quilt top back into place and one half of the quilt is basted! How easy is that?

Step 3:

Because my quilt is larger than my design wall, I remove the sandwich from the wall and fold the top portion over neatly. I repin along the folded edge higher on the wall so that the bottom of the quilt is now on the design wall. Smooth out and repin the backing.

Step 4:

Now lift the batting and patchwork layer up and pin out of the way. Spray the backing fabric. 

Step 5:

Smooth the batting into place and spray with the adhesive. Now smooth the quilt top in place and you are done spray basting your quilt!

Smaller quilts won't need to be repositioned on the design wall. I just happen to like quilting my own quilts on my Janome. I find this spray basting method works well and keeps things in place. Please follow the directions on the product you choose. This stuff is flamable and has chemicals that can be dangerous. Stay safe my friends!!

Also, I machine quilt 'in the ditch' around each sashing strip first to make sure everything is secure. I check the back at this point to make sure no tucks have appeared. So far so good! Then I go back and fill in each area with free motion or straight lines. 

Let me know if you have any questions!

Diane