Machine Quilting at Home: Preparing the quilt

In times past if you were going to machine quilt, the blanket had to be pinned together every few inches. And then as you quilted you were constantly stopping to take out all those pins. Forever slow.

Now the quilt can be held together temporarily with a quilt basting spray as pictured above. It is fast and fun after the first time you do it.

Prepare the back of the quilt by cutting it 1 inch bigger that the top on all sides.

 

Next cut the batting 1 1/2 inches bigger than the back on all sides.

I fold my batting in 1/4ths, line up the straight edge and then cut it.

 If you are doing a baby or lap quilt you may need to only fold it in half to fit your cutting board.

 In a well ventilated area or outside on a calm day, roll out paper on the floor to cover a larger space than the batting. Put the backing right side down on the paper. Position the batting over the backing by lining up one side of the batting with one side of the backing. It would be easier to put the batting down first but I find that the spray adheres better if it is not sprayed on the batting.

 Since it's hard to see the process for spraying these 2 light colored fabrics together follow the steps as outlined for spraying the front of the quilt onto the binding. When finished the backing will stick to the batting. If there is a wrinkle it is easy to pull the fabric off and reposition it.

With the backing now adhered to the batting lift it off of the paper. Place the front of the quilt face down on the paper. Place the batting on top of the front of the quilt with the backing facing up. 

The edge of the batting that lines up with the backing should extend over the top of the front of the quilt by 1 inch as seen below.

Fold 8-10 inches of the batting from the top down. Continue folding down until you reach the center of the quilt.

Shake the can of spray adhesive according to the package directions. Spray 10 - 12 inches of the quilt. Unfold the batting one fold over the sprayed portion of the quilt and pat in place. Do not rub or stretch the fabric in any way. 

 Repeat this step until the top edge of the quilt has been sprayed and attached to the batting.

Repeat the above steps with the bottom half of the quilt. 

Now the 3 pieces of fabric are combined into one piece.

Check to make sure that the backing of the quilt extends past the front of the quilt.

Trim the edges of the quilt to within 1 inch of the front of the quilt. This extra selvage will help in the actual quilting process. Directions for quilting are here.
To see how this quilt is pieced go here.