Today we welcome guest blogger Jennifer O’Brien. I met Jennifer years ago at a local quilt show as she demonstrated the proper way to use 505 basting spray. What a huge difference this has made in my machine quilting. 505 is fave of all the basting sprays, low odor, easily repositioned, and doesn’t add to the weight of the quilt.
Thank you Teri for inviting me to blog with you.
I am Jennifer O’Brien and I started a business 15 years ago in order to bring 505 Spray and Fix Temporary Adhesive, for machine embroidery and basting your quilts, to USA quilters. I was sure it would help all of us who are great starters and never finish because we hate the basting process.
Here is my latest project. I love old quilt tops and when I get one I love I want to finish it. The first thing I do is find a backing that is period appropriate, usually white or muslin for the antique tops. Next I spray baste with 505 Spray and Fix so I can machine quilt it. Here is the current basket quilt with double pink fabric for the background. Did you know double pink fabric has been made since the early 1800’s? There are tons of patterns with a light pink background and a dark pink pattern or vice versa with light on dark. This is a full size quilt and I will be able to baste all 3 layers together in about 15 minutes. Here is a YouTube video that shows the basics on how to spray baste. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2nPB8rGhiI
Not everyone can get down on the floor to baste a quilt or has the space to hang the quilt sandwich on a design wall to baste a quilt. Here is how I baste a quilt on a 6 foot table.
Layout batting centered over table. Place quilt top right side up centered over batting making sure you have extra batting all the way around.
Pull top back to about the half way point. Spray batting right to left all the way to side edges covering about 1 – 2 feet moving forward to the front edge of table. Roll quilt top forward over sprayed area and pat in place keeping lines straight and readjusting where needed to remove ripples. Slide sandwich away from you to bring more batting to the top of the table and repeat spray basting.
When you reach the end bottom of the edge quilt top slide the top and batting sandwich back to the center of the table plus a foot or so and begin again from the center and spray baste the opposite half of the quilt top.
Once the top is sprayed in place flip over so batting side is facing up and position backing fabric right side up is centered over the batting and spray baste the same way as the quilt top. Then your sandwich is done and you are ready to quilt. If you are hand quilting I recommend safety pinning the 3 layers of the outer edges so it doesn’t begin to release and start to come apart while you are quilting.
For more information visit: www.odifusa.com
Thanks Jennifer!
Happy Quilting!
Teri
Thanks for inviting me to be a guest blogger. I really enjoyed it. I will share it on my Facebook page.