Quilt Spray Basting Tutorial

I recently joined a small quilting group that is a branch of my quilt guild and the ladies in my group were discussing basting techniques. For the most part I don’t think anyone in our group (other than me) has done much spray basting. Which got me thinking about putting together a tutorial, because I couldn’t live without this quilt basting method. So this weekend while I was spray basting a baby quilt I thought I would take some photos, so here goes :)

There are probably a lot of ways to do this (and I am guessing there are already tutorials out there), but this is the way I learned & I love how easy it is. (Thanks to my good friend Evelyn who usually lets me spray baste on her living room floor & taught me that spray basting would save my back ;) Really this tutorial wouldn’t be possible without her!)

Step One – Lay out an old flat sheet on the floor. This should be larger than your quilt & cover any area where the spray might reach. I used a full size sheet for a baby quilt. If you are careful you can avoid over spray, but if you are worried about it go ahead & lay out an extra sheet over surrounding furniture. You can also tape your sheets down with painters tape if you have hard surface floors, but I found with carpet it stays in place.Step Two – Lay your batting flat on the floor (over the sheet). Smooth your batting out flat so that you will not end up with any wrinkles. Cat assistance is not necessary, but cute :)

Step Three – Lay your quilt backing flat on the batting. Smoothing it out flat as you go. Tip – Make the backing slightly larger than the batting so it is easy to line everything up when you add the quilt top to the sandwich.Step Four – Beginning from the bottom, roll your quilt backing fabric up until you get to the middle of the back.

Step Five – From the top, roll your quilt backing fabric up until you get to the middle of the back. It should look like this all rolled up…

Step Six – You are ready to start spraying! Shake your quilt basting spray & be sure to read the directions on the back of the can. (I used June Tailor Quilt Basting Spray from Joann’s for this quilt & it works great. Be sure to remember your 40% off coupon :)

Step Seven – Okay this is where a video tutorial would be really helpful, but instead you get my fun diagram :) For the actual spraying, I start in the middle & work my way out to both ends. I work in about 8-12 inch sections up from the backing, so that way I can smooth my backing fabric down as I go. The little red loops & arrows are my little spray diagram.

Step Eight – After spraying a section, gently unroll your backing fabric over the section sprayed smoothing out your fabric as you go. I unroll a little past the spray & then pull back, that way I don’t miss any areas.

Step Nine – Finish spraying the backing in sections. When you finish with the top half of the backing, turn around & do the bottom half.

Step Ten – The backing should be basted onto your batting at this point. So go ahead and make sure it is all smooth, then flip it over on the sheet (so the backing is on the bottom & batting on the top.)

Step Eleven – Lay out your quilt top over the batting (& backing). Smoothing it out completely as you go.

Step Twelve – Just like you did with the backing, roll the quilt top up from the top & bottom until it meets in the middle.

Step Thirteen – Spray baste in sections just like you did on the back of the quilt. Smooth out your top as you go along (especially your seams!). Pull back gently to make sure you don’t miss any sections.

Step Fourteen – When you finish spray basting the top you should have a nice quilt sandwich! Now all you need to do is start quilting!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment & I will try to clarify :) Also, if you find this tutorial helpful be sure & leave a comment, so that way I know to keep writing tutorials. (I am also happy to take requests for tutorials on projects you have seen around here :)

Oh & details on the quilt! I haven’t shared this one yet, because I am still working on it and I was thinking it was going to be a surprise for the recipient. Well I guess I am terrible at surprises, because this is a baby quilt for my nephew who is due in July (and my sister in law reads my blog sometimes). It was so much fun to put together & I just love all the dots (and sheep).