Spray Baste Tutorial

i have never done a tutorial before (that i know of) on my blog. however, when i showed a pic of us spray basting quilts in this post i had a few people ask how i do it? and, how i do it & don't get any wrinkles in it.

so here i go. i am going to try & cover it step by step.

first, & usually the most challenging part of this is finding a space big enough for the quilt that you want to spray baste. i have a large table at work that i sometimes use. however, in this case we used my driveway. its large & its flat so it worked.

i have a tarp that i use just for spray basting. you want to protect the surface that you are spraying on. now in the driveway it was more to keep the quilts clean then anything. i rinse off my tarp with a garden hose after i am done spray basting so that when i put the tarp away it doesn't stick to itself.

so once you have the tarp spread out i then lay out my batting. i make sure that it is smooth and wrinkle free. my blogland friend Sarah who blogs over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict told me that she will tape the corners of her batting down.

as you can see in the pic below my tarp is silver on one side & blue on the other. so you can see the silver of the tarp, a little bit of the batting & then the backing fabric.

once you have the batting ready i then lay the backing fabric over the batting. smoothing it out as needed. both the batting & the backing fabric have been already cut to the correct size that is needed for the quilt top. i try & leave 2 1/2" to 3" of batting & backing all the way around the quilt. that way i am not fighting the quilt top to get it to fit just right on the batting. i have some room to work with.

just a close up shot of the tarp, batting & backing fabric.

at the time i took theses pics i didn't know i would be doing a tutorial on it. i don't have pics of us folding back the backing fabric. but, the process is the same for the back as it is for the front of the quilt.

once you have the batting and backing fabric ready i then visually notate where the center of the quilt is - roughly. you don't have to be exact. i then start on one end & fold the backing fabric or the quilt top (depending upon which side you are working on) back onto itself about 6". i continue to fold 6" sections until i am roughly to the center of the quilt.

as you can see in this picture below we have folded back the quilt top to the halfway mark & we have begun to spray.

there are several different types of spray baste on the market but i just use whatever Joann's carries. at Joann's its considered a quilting notion so when those go 50% off i stock up.

when you are spraying the adhesive i always spray the batting & never the fabric. doesn't matter if you are working or the front or the back of the quilt. always spray the batting.

i have found that shaking the can well before beginning helps & keeping the can roughly 12"to 15" away from the batting as you are spraying. if this is new to you or you have done it before & not had good luck with it my one tip would be to go lightly with the spray. don't over spray your batting that will just cause problems for you. i typically do a very light spray over the half that i am working on. then i touch the batting to feel for my coverage. if there is a spot that needs a little more i will spray some more there. its sort of like cooking. you can always add a little more but its hard to take out the extra.

once that half of the batting is sprayed i then get down on my hands & knees & begin to unfold those 6" sections back onto the batting. going slow & making sure not to create any wrinkles. if a wrinkle does occur you can easily pull back the fabric and reset it. its sort of like hand pressing the fabric into the adhesive. take your time & you will be pleased with the outcome.

once one half is finished we fold back the other half. when you get towards the center of the quilt you will be able to tell where you have already spray basted. the fabric will be married to the batting. once you have the backing fabric basted to the batting then flip it over. if you have 2 people its much easier. repeat the same process with the quilt top. smooth out the batting that has the backing already attached. layout your quilt top on the batting making sure its smooth. begin at one end & fold the quilt onto itself every 6" until you reach the center. spray & unfold the quilt onto the batting. repeat for the other half.

once you have a quilt completely spray basted i like to do 1 of 2 things. either take the quilt & lay it on a flat surface for awhile. like a bed or something. or i like to roll it on a cardboard tube to store until i am ready to quilt it. i do not recommend quilting the quilt right away. in my opinion it needs a little dry time before the quilting begins.

that weekend that we spray basted in my driveway i think we did about 6 or 7 quilts. it goes pretty quick when you have 2 or 3 people doing it.

so get your quilting buddies together & start spray basting those quilts.

let me know if you have any questions about the process. i will do my best to answer them.