Beginners Class/When Basting is Best

Quilting "How-To" Class

When Basting is Best... by Nancy Roberts

Preview your stitching to ensure accuracy!

Although I know what a perfectly pieced quilt block should look like, I'm not always able to achieve it. That's why I rely on tools and techniques designed to improve accuracy. One tried-and-true method that's a carry-over from my garment piecing days is machine basting. For me, it's an ounce of prevention and what I'm preventing is tedious seam ripping! Just set your machine for a long stitch, pin pieces together and sew the seam. If seams are not perfectly aligned or points are not exactly the way you want them, removing stitches is easy-usually just a matter of pulling gently on the bobbin thread. For areas where stretching might occur, it's best to cut the thread several places along the seamline with a seam ripper and then remove the thread in shorter sections. If everything looks good, shorten the stitch and sew along the basted line. It's your choice whether to leave the basting in or remove it after stitching.

I choose machine basting whenever I face a sewing challenge. I find it especially useful in the following ways:

Piece curved designs such as the Double Wedding Ring or Drunkard's Path.

I thought those arcs and melons just might get the best of me when I began stitching a mini Double Wedding Ring. Let's face it, they're unruly at best! But I conquered them by pinning the pieces in several places (I prefer placing the melon on top) and then machine basting the seam. After doing several units this way, I got the feel of proper placement and was able to skip the basting step. It felt good-like removing the training wheels. Basting first saved seam ripping time and prevented the need to toss out ruined units. The same method worked worked for piecing Drunkard's Path blocks which have a deeper curved seam.

Create on-target centers in patterns such as Eight-Point Star or Kaleidoscope blocks.

In any block where several seams meet in the center, basting the center seam helps align the others perfectly before the final stitching.

Join opposing seams in patterns such as the Lone Star or Blazing Star blocks.

When joining rows of pieced diamonds, your goal is to achieve a continuous straight line by matching seams. However, because the seams are angled, they are tricky to match. Although pinning and previewing from the right side does help, you can't see if they intersect precisely 1/4" from the raw edge. Because you're working with bias, ripping out a mismatched seam is undesirable. Instead, once the seams are pinned, baste them to be sure of accuracy.

Align blocks and sashing in rows.

You can make up for slight differences in block sizes by easing in fullness or coaxing blocks to fit when joining them in rows. However, it's easy to cause misaligned seams when doing this. Pin, then baste seams to ensure a good match before sewing across the entire row. That way, any adjusting can be done in areas that will be less noticeable.

Miter pieced borders properly.

One of my favorite border treatments is to sew several widths of coordinating fabrics into a single pieced border strip and then stitch this to the quilt top. Corners need to be mitered with seamlines that match and 90° angles that are true.

If you haven't already tried these basting ideas, use them to prevent stitching errors in your quilt projects. If these methods are your common practice, where else do you baste before stitching? Let us know and we might share your ideas in an upcoming issue. Write to Chitra Publications, Basting Ideas, 2 Public Avenue, Montrose, PA 18801.

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