How to Spray Baste a Quilt

Everyone has their least favorite part of making a quilt and I’d have to say mine is basting. All that pinning always leaves my fingers hurting!

Then I found out about spray baste. I was hesitant at first, largely because of the cost. Since quilting supplies are so expensive I always heavily weigh if the cost is worth the benefit. I look at whether I can find similar items from a cheaper source, like with the tools I use for squaring up quilts. Or I’ll consider if the time saved is worth the price.

Spray baste has been a winner in my opinion. Pinning could take me an hour or more but spray basting can take a mere 10 minutes! Plus my fingers don’t end up aching at the end. But the biggest thing that sold me on spray basting is that I can create a perfectly flat quilt with no fabric bunching! It really gives it a professional look. And the added bonus is that it’s really simple to use.

How To Spray Baste

First you need to find a large, flat space with good ventilation. I open my windows, rearrange some furniture, and spread out on the floor, but if you have a good outdoor space that would be a great alternative!

Then you need to lay out your backing on the floor face down. Tape it down to prevent shifting. You want it snug, but not so much so that you’re stretching out the fabric. I like to start with the four corners and then add tape along the sides as needed. It’s a good idea to bounce back and forth to tape opposite sides in pairs instead of taping all one side than the other. This will help keep the fabric straight and not pull the fabric more to one side than the other, distorting the backing.

Lay your batting over the backing and smooth it out.

Roll the batting halfway and very lightly spray the baste onto the fabric. You don’t need very much to make it stick and too much can cause you issues with gumming up your needle later.

Roll the batting back down on top of the backing, and smooth down the batting starting from the center and working your way out to the edges.

The directions on the spray baste say to spray the batting. I haven’t found it makes a difference and I really prefer to roll my batting because it makes it lay on top of the backing so smooth. However, if you would prefer to spray the batting you could fold it up instead of rolling and then spray each fold before folding it back down on top of the backing.

 Repeat for the second half of the batting.

Now we’re just repeating the same steps with the top! Start by smoothing out the quilt top on top of the batting, face side up. This is the time to make sure you have the top laying straight and matching up where you want it with the backing.

Again, roll up half of the quilt top.

Lightly spray the batting.

Carefully roll down the top and smooth it out. If there are lumps or folds you can pull the top back up and smooth it out again. It will stay sticky. Repeat with the other half.

Trim off any excess fabric and batting.

I like to roll my quilt for storage so that I don’t get any creases or folds before I sew it.

If you notice any overspray on the floor, it should clean up with soapy water. Or you can add a layer of protection underneath or along the edges before you start.

The downside to this is I’m still crawling around on the floor, but if you’re lucky enough to have a large enough wall space I’ve heard of people having success basting on the wall!

Have you tried spray baste? What did you think?