I'll start out with thanking everyone for their votes on beads or no beads, and whether to make the other quilt bigger. It really helps to have the input from other people. I have seen both quilts from a lot of views now. I am going to wait on the beading issue until after my art quilters' group meets at my house on Jan. 21. On the other one, I am going to add a row to the side and one to the bottom to get a little better mix of the colors as well as getting it to a better lap size.
I thought I would tell you about my basting. I have been basting quilt for 50 years now and a few things have changed but one stays the same. I tried basting with straight pins and saw them roll their way out of the quilt as I worked. Then I tried T pins. They stayed in place much better but because I ran into them all the time I would get blood on the quilt. Then I tried thread basting with a running stitch. I found that the layers still moved back and forth on the thread. Added later: I also tried safety pins which I hated opening and closing.
Then I tried the padding stitch that I had used in tailoring. If you look closely at this picture you will see a dark thread in a diagonal pattern. The needle is inserted in a horizontal stitch and the thread between the stitches is the diagonal. I found that with this stitch the quilt layers were very secure. Since this works the best it is the only way I baste now.
I just finished basting the one below. You can see I tape the backing down, then layer the 3 pieces and baste. For over 30 years I basted on my hands and knees on the floor. For the first 25 of those years I didn't tape the backing, and had to continually go around the quilt and pull on the edges of the backing to be sure it wasn't working its way into a wrinkle under the quilt.
Almost 14 years ago I purchased three 30" x 96" tables which I can push together for a 90" x 96" basting area or a 60" x 96" area, depending on the size of the quilt. Finally (in my mid-50's) I could stand up to baste. There is a lot of stretching to reach the middle of the 3 tables, but I need the exercise. Below is the third quilt to be on the basting tables since the first of January. It is a piece for an exhibit at the IL Artisans Gallery at Rend Lake for Feb. 8-Apr. 8 for heart disease awareness. I will show all of it after it has the binding on it. I have to ship it before Jan. 22 so I work on it a little every day.
I use drafting tape and I know a lot of people use painters tape. They are similar in their stickiness.
Here are 2 more fabrics that have been sliced. Aren't the squares above just yummy?
I really like the strip of this one.
I thought I would tell you about my basting. I have been basting quilt for 50 years now and a few things have changed but one stays the same. I tried basting with straight pins and saw them roll their way out of the quilt as I worked. Then I tried T pins. They stayed in place much better but because I ran into them all the time I would get blood on the quilt. Then I tried thread basting with a running stitch. I found that the layers still moved back and forth on the thread. Added later: I also tried safety pins which I hated opening and closing.
Then I tried the padding stitch that I had used in tailoring. If you look closely at this picture you will see a dark thread in a diagonal pattern. The needle is inserted in a horizontal stitch and the thread between the stitches is the diagonal. I found that with this stitch the quilt layers were very secure. Since this works the best it is the only way I baste now.
I just finished basting the one below. You can see I tape the backing down, then layer the 3 pieces and baste. For over 30 years I basted on my hands and knees on the floor. For the first 25 of those years I didn't tape the backing, and had to continually go around the quilt and pull on the edges of the backing to be sure it wasn't working its way into a wrinkle under the quilt. Almost 14 years ago I purchased three 30" x 96" tables which I can push together for a 90" x 96" basting area or a 60" x 96" area, depending on the size of the quilt. Finally (in my mid-50's) I could stand up to baste. There is a lot of stretching to reach the middle of the 3 tables, but I need the exercise. Below is the third quilt to be on the basting tables since the first of January. It is a piece for an exhibit at the IL Artisans Gallery at Rend Lake for Feb. 8-Apr. 8 for heart disease awareness. I will show all of it after it has the binding on it. I have to ship it before Jan. 22 so I work on it a little every day. I use drafting tape and I know a lot of people use painters tape. They are similar in their stickiness. Here are 2 more fabrics that have been sliced. Aren't the squares above just yummy? I really like the strip of this one.