- Help for Quilters!
New quiltmaker? Seasoned quiltmaker? Whatever the experience, we all have to tackle getting those 3 layers together so they can be quilted. I have never had an area large enough to put up an old fashioned quilting frame, and never could afford one of those fancy small frames with rollers. I was left with only one option - spread the layers out on the floor, get down on all fours, and go to work.
My first attempts were pretty haphazard. I had not taken any classes, didn't own a quilt book, and no quilting acquaintances to consult. I did so want to have some quilts so I relied on my dressmaking skills. For this very first quilt, I sewed tailor tacks over all of the quilt sandwich. My floor was covered with a rug so the tailor tacks made quite a tedious procedure! When I finally got to the actual hand quilting (and that's another story-- I didn't know where the knots went so they are on the outside!) I discovered the tailor tacks didn't hold the layers together very well. A learning experience sure enough and for the next quilt I basted both ways across the pieced top, batting and back and found that held quite well.
By the time I had progressed to the third quilt top, I had taken a class, had purchased some books, had some quilting friends and had learned about PINS! Despite punctured fingers, I have been using pins all these years since then, down on the floor. Did you notice that part about "all these years"? Those years have brought some changes, most notably in my knees and my back, so now it is time to move on to another means of keeping those three layers together for quilting.
I considered tables, two large tables side by side that would save my back but I had no place to store them.
One of our lovely daughters-in-law knew of my increasing difficulty in putting quilt layers together, and for Mothers Day I received not 1 but 4 FUSIBLE battings! Two bed size and two baby size. None of my friends had used fusible battings, so it was up to me to experiment. Being of a cowardly nature, I chose to try a small one first.
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