I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

[Sharon Walker]

Please help me. I have finished piecing my first quilt. I have my backing, batting and the front of my quilt ready to go. However I do not have a table big enough to accommodate this twin size quilt so that I can layer it to prepare for quilting.
Any helpful suggestions?

[SummerK]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

I baste my quilts on the kitchen floor. I tried the living room once, but kept pinning it to the carpet. Really, any hard surfaced floor can work. =)

[Sandy Navas]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

Lay it out over your bed.

[Mia]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

Hey Sandy .... did you figure out your dilemma? Found a rope or lost your horse? (lol)

[MaryB]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

Sharon, Harriet Hargrave has a great way to baste a quilt of any size on a small table. I use it all the time. Its in one of her books, I think it is Heirloom Machine Quilting. There is a whole chapter on Layering and Pin-Basting

I've been wondering about that horse too, Sandy.

[jrchapman]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

The lady at my LQS taught me a trick for layering up quilts using a table. She layered up my large double quilt on a table which was too small even for a twin. I'm not sure I can explain it without showing you but I'll give it a try.

1. Stand at one of the long sides of your table.
2. Lay your backing over the table starting with the top edge even at the edge of the table and then slide it up smoothing it the whole way so you know all the wrinkles are out (if it's too wide, line up the left edge and leave the right draping over the edge)
3. Once it's all smooth move it back so that the top and left are even again
4. Place your batting on top, lining up the top and left edges with where you want them on the backing
5. Smooth the batting out so that it's smooth over the backing that is over the table top
6. Slide the fabric to the left so that the right edge is on the table and then smooth that bit
7. Slide the fabric up so that the next section is on the table and smooth that
8. Keep going, sliding it from side to side and up until the whole batting is smoothed down
9. When you slide back to the top left you'll find that the batting has clung to the fabric and it's still in place
10. Do the same thing with the quilt top on top of the batting
11. When all the batting and top are smooth, start pinning by putting a pin in the centre of the quilt
12. Put one hand on top of the sandwich and the other underneath and lightly smooth draw the fabric out from the centre to where you want to put the next pin

It sounds a bit of a fiddle but I don't have a large table or floor space large enough to baste and this has worked really well for me. I hope it makes sense to you

[EsGrandma]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

Sharon, If you have access to a school or a church, you might be able to complete your quilt on one of their tables.

[rebeccas-sewing]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

Lay it out over your bed.

Check the barn! TeeHee.

[rebeccas-sewing]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

I purchased 2 inexpensive folding tables from our warehouse store (Sam's Club). I bought some bed risers and I put the tables together side by side on the risers to make it easier on my back. The two tables are so great and allow me to do lots of large projects like quilt basting, drapes, etc. Once I'm done, I can fold them up and get them out of the way. Someday, I'm going to purchase two more tables so I can add additional length to my work surface. I'll wait to do that once I have a larger sewing room. I guess you could use a bed but, SANDY, how do you deal with a soft surface for pinning the layers or basting? Don't the pins or needle get stuck in the bed?

[mamaquilt]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

Lay it out over your bed.

Don't you pin the quilt on the bed? I prefer the tiled floor of the dining room or the kitchen.

[quiltingtrish]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

I am lucky that I can go to the church to lay mine out on a few tables put together. I can't lay the larger quilts on my floor because my kitties think that I have laid them out a bed just for themselves! So, if you can't get to a place to use a few tables, Rebecca's idea to purchase 2 tables that you can put out of the way when not needed is a great idea. I tried once to lay mine on the bed - too soft for me too.

Hugs,

[CherylR]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

I lay mine on our queen size bed, but I am a spray baster not a pinner. The tile floor is just tooooooo hard on these old knees.

[Sandy Navas]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

I'm like Cheryl - I can't get down on the floor to work. I actually have a large dining room table that I can lay things out on. But, lacking that I'd work on my bed - you just need to go easy so you don't pin the blankets on the backing, but it can be done.

I still don't know if I lost a horse or not . . .

[shell.scraps]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

I'm a bit type A about things so I tape my backing down to the top of a couple of folding buffet tables. I then layer my batting and top to the backing and pin from the center out. This saves my back as well as assuring that I don't get any gathers, fold, wrinkles , or puckers while pinning.

[MissieP]

Re: I need to now sandwich my quilt but I cannot get down on the floor.

we have tile all down stairs in our house.. so I lay it out on the tile.. but I love what rebeccas-sewing did.. the 2 folding tables with risers. That is an excellent idea.. i have back problems too so anything to not have to stay in a bent over position for too long is fantastic!!