I watched a Craftsy class on machine quilting. The instructor tells you to put two folding tables together and mark the middle of each side and the middle of the two table with toothpicks taped down so that you can feel it through all of the layers. Iron your top and bottom into quarters. You mark the batting with a safety pin. Next you line up the backing first using blue painters tape/or binder clips to secure to the table. Next is the batting and finally the quilt top. Throughout the process you are supposed to start in the middle and smooth things out. Then you baste with safety pins about a hand width apart. Sounds doable.
Keep in mind that my “table” for laying this out on is essentially two saw horses with a large panel of wood over them and a cutting mat. As this is all over a twin bed, I thought it would be easier to pull out the panel and have one half go over to the other table nearby that is about the same height. That way I could get to all sides. In theory.
Did I mention that the other table is on those bed risers that you can get from Bed Bath and Beyond? Did I mention that the panel was heavy? Well, since both of these things happen to be true, it meant the risers kept moving while I was wrestling with moving the board. I almost dropped that heavy sucker twice! Eventually, I the panel was stable enough for me to start pinning the quilt together and it looked good.
I started to quilt on my new Brother sewing machine with a walking foot. And then I noticed some tucks. Nope, not today. I ripped out those stitches.
The next day, I went to JoAnn fabrics as I heard that you can use their classroom for this if it’s not in use. Started from stratch and pin basted again. Started quilting again, and the same things started to happen. Ripped out the stitches.
Watched YouTube. Next I’m trying pool noodles!
