Glue Basting

Glue Basting in preparation for machine quilting


Copyright ©2019 By Peggy Ladner


Water soluble glue can be used to baste together a quilt top, batting and backing in preparation for machine quilting.  Advantages to this method are:

No hand basting.

No need to pin and unpin sections as you quilt.

Quilt stitching can be done in any direction – up, down, or diagonal.

No need to flip the quilt to avoid the needle causing the fabric to pull, if quilting lines are all in one direction.

Requirements:

The quilt top, batting and backing must be washable.

The glue should be washed out after the quilting is complete, as it may affect the fabric if it is left in.  It’s unknown what would happen if the glue is left in the quilt, but you don’t want to spend time and effort in making a quilt just to have it wrecked by glue that was not washed out.

Glue products that have been used for glue basting with success are:

Aleene’s No-Sew Fabric Glue (Temporary Fabric Adhesive)

Elmer’s Washable, No Run School Glue

Both of these are available in 4 oz bottles.  It takes 2 – 3 bottles to do a roughly 48” x 60” quilt.  I find this size bottle easy to manage.

Batting used with success:

Warm and Natural, by the Warm Company

Toasty Cotton, by Fairfield

Both of the above have the advantage of being able to be quilted widely.  Warm and Natural packaging indicates it can be quilted as far as 10” apart; Toasty Cotton indicates 8”.  Typically, I quilt no further than about 4” apart, but generally the block dictates the width.  That and how much time I have.  Less time = less quilting, although given a choice I prefer to do a lot of quilting.

Instructions:

1	Make the quilt top and back.  The backing should be about an inch larger than the top on all four sides. Cut batting to the same size as the backing.
2	Line up and layer the top, batting and backing.  Center the width onto your work surface.  The quilt sandwich can be top side up or backing side up, whatever you prefer as both the top and the back will each be glue basted onto the batting in a separate step.  Smooth the layers flat, but don’t pull out of shape.
3	Glue baste in horizontal sections across the entire width.  I prefer starting in the middle of the quilt and work out to the top edge and bottom edge in turn, in sections about 12” to 18” across the entire width of the quilt.
4	To start, fold the fabric back to about the middle of the quilt, exposing the batting and 12” to 18” of the reverse of the top or backing fabric.
5	Using either a dotting or squiggle motion, place glue on the fabric no further than about an inch and a half apart, in all directions.
6	Cover from one side to the other of the work either in lines or by tracing the shapes of the blocks.  Try to maintain an even width of glued area in the section, as it makes it easier to fold back and work the next section if the edge of the glued section is relatively straight.
7	Once the fabric section has glue applied, pick it up and lay it on the batting.  Smooth the layers flat, but do not pull or stretch.  Pat over the glued section to make sure the glue has good contact.
8	When basting, the tip of the glue bottle will pick up fibers.  Use a scrap of fabric or damp rag to clean the tip periodically.
9	Glue baste in sections.  Typically, I allow a section to dry/set up before moving on to the next section.  Don’t hang a section that is not dry across the edge of the table or other work surface as it may cause distortion.  Dry sections can be hung over an edge.
10	Once the top is glue basted to the batting, turn the quilt over and glue baste the back using the same technique.
11	Quilt the quilt.  Even up the edges by cutting away the excess.  Apply the binding and label.
12	Wash the glue out of the quilt.  I use the Normal setting on my washer, which consists of a cold-water wash and rinse, with a high-speed spin.  Use laundry detergent as you would for a regular wash load.  I often add several pairs of jeans to the load as it helps balance the washer since a wet quilt can be really heavy.
13	If you want to hand wash glue out of the quilt be aware that it will take multiple changes of the water and a lot of hand agitation until the water is clear, indicating the glue is gone.   Hand washing can be very strenuous.
14	Machine dry on low heat.

Miscellaneous tips:

Aleene’s No-Sew Fabric Glue needs the tip to be cut open with a utility knife or scissors.  After opening a bottle, I replace the lid and keep the glue bottle positioned upside down in a box until I’m ready to baste.  When basting if the glue bottle has to be set down, I replace the lid and put the bottle back in the box upside down so the glue will flow as soon as I’m ready to proceed.

If you need to reposition a portion of the work after the glue has set up, gently pull apart the layers and re-glue it. 

Q & A

	Does the glue gum up the needle when machine quilting? No, and you can’t really tell if you are stitching through glue.  Batting is somewhat bumpy anyway and it can be difficult to feel the glue through the top or back.
	Does the glue dull the needle faster? No, it does not.
	Does glue basting affect stitch length? It does not affect stitch length.

Machine Quilting notes:

If you haven’t machine quilted previously, you may want to make up a glue basted sample and try out different stitch lengths to see what you like.  Mark the sample with the length setting of each sample seam. 

It can also be helpful to do a sample in order to determine if you need to adjust tension when machine quilting.


Using a seam guide can be very helpful to keep the stitched lines relatively straight when machine quilting.  


Also, washing the glue out leaves the quilt with a crinkled texture which can disguise a multitude of sins, such as seams that are not straight, and changing stitch length part way through a project.

Copyright ©2019 By Peggy Ladner