Saturday, April 16, 2011

Layering A Quilt - Tutorial - I Do It My Way!

There are as many ways to layer a quilt as there are ways to raise a child!

I only have a limited amount of space to layer quilts here so I came up with what I think is a unique way to layer my quilts that are over 42 inches.

I use the peninsula on my kitchen counter and I pull my cutting table up to it.

They are not the same height but the inch difference has not been a problem.

I cut the backing for a quilt about 2" larger than the quilt top on each side.



I start by putting the backing wrong side up on the counter and table.
I tape it down with blue painters tape stretching it so it is flat and there are no tucks. I try to use the edge of the counter and table to keep it straight. I have found with this method I don't get tucks in my backing when I quilt it.

On top of this I put the batting. To get wrinkles out of the batting I either iron it or let it tumble in the dryer on warm for about a half hour.
If I iron it I keep the iron slightly above the batting and let the steam do the work.
On the rare occasion I use polyester batting I do not iron it. I tumble it in the dryer.


I smooth the batting over the backing. I tape only the corners of the batting down.

On top of this I put the quilt top, right side up.
I pin all the layers together with either brass safety pins or straight pins with the flower heads.



When I finish pinning the layers together I am ready to take off the tape and take it to my sewing machine to quilt it.

This method can be done in a minimum amount of time.
Then I can get on with the quilting which is one of the things I love to do on the sewing machine.
It gives the quilt depth, and complements the piecing I have done.

4 comments:

Kay Webb said...

I have come up with the paper chip quilt formula for my stripes that were precut for a water color quilt and given to me. I'll post a picture later this evening on facebook as I don't know how to do it on the blog...maybe I'll figure that out, back to sewing, it's such a good day for it..:)

Kay Webb said...

PS I just decided to have a formula and follow it because it adds a creative slant that I may not have had, if I had done it the way my brain thinks it should be done. I always thing the muse has been good to me.....:)

Deb Hardman said...

Clever use of a tight space.

I have the same craft table,& fold each layer in quarters, centering each fold on side of table edge , & I use big binder clamps to clamp it to the table,one layer at a time,The pin all over, unclamp, shift,reclamp, pin, etc. Works well, saves on tape. :~)

I learned this method from Harriet Hargaves book 'Heirloom Machine Quilting'

Judi said...

thanks for the great tutorial. I have a longarm so most of my quilts get put on it but there are always smaller pieces I do on my domestic machine and this tutorial works great for that.