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Member since 6/27/03
Posts: 3742
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Posted on: 8/21/09 9:04 AM ET
I watched the youtube video a dozen times and bought the boards BUT i'm not having luck with it. After a few rolls, the quilt gets off and i try again but it never looks uniformly perfect like hers did and this was a table-runner! i wonder how much more difficult it would be if it were a regular-sized quilt.
  
Member since 4/17/07
Posts: 25
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Posted on: 8/21/09 11:35 AM ET
I have watched the same youtube video, although I do things a little differently. I don't have a long table to sit at, so I have to baste on the floor. I also don't use the boards, I just put my backing, batting, and quilt top on the floor, smoothed out and positioned how I want it, then baste. I just use whatever leftover thread I have from bobbins or other projects. I like her method because it seems like the layers stay put better than just basting in rows back and forth and it seems for me the time that I tried using safety pins there was too much shifting of the layers and big holes left from the pins.

Were your boards wider than the width of the quilt top, she stresses that it is important the boards are wider. Perhaps as you said it was off because you are doing a table runner, although in her video she does have a rather small quilt block.

All the layers would have to be perfectly lined up from the start otherwise it would become progressively more out of alignment as you unroll more.

Hope that helps.

Stacey
  
Member since 12/10/05
Posts: 1221
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Re: Sharon Shambergs basting method (posted on 8/21/09 6:41 PM ET)
I've tried it a few times now, and I do like it, particularly as I don't even have floor space to baste a bed-sized quilt. And yes, I've also found that there is a tendency for it not to be as smooth as Sharon's example one, particularly on a larger quilt. However, I do note that she says to starch the backing fabric, and I've never done that, so maybe if I followed her instructions fully I'd get smoother results.
  
Member since 6/27/03
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Re: Sharon Shambergs basting method (posted on 8/21/09 9:51 PM ET)
Ok, maybe i'll take more time and maybe even secure the ends with blue tape. I did use boards that were a hand's width wider on both sides. I really think I was doing it right and i have a large omega table to work on.Stacy, I agree if it isn't perfect from the start--big problems. My the 3rd or 4th roll, it was getting off and my quilt was square. Sure baffles me bc this shouldn't be difficult. I just wondered if anyone else had tried it w/ the same results. I'll give it another shot bc in theory it is a great solution to a dreaded task!
  
Member since 12/10/05
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Re: Sharon Shambergs basting method (posted on 8/22/09 4:03 AM ET)
I think sticking the beginning of your fabric to the board could be a good idea. You have reminded me that starting the roll is not easy when you are dealing with something large - you don't have enough hands to hold it all in place as you roll the board.
  
Member since 4/15/05
Posts: 1290
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Re: Sharon Shambergs basting method (posted on 8/22/09 3:36 PM ET)
I bought Harriette Hargrave's book on machine quilting a few months ago. Her method of layering the bed-sized quilt on a table before pinning seems to be pretty goof-proof, but I have always resisted the idea of safety pinning the sandwich. Sewing over pins, rusting, holes.... always seemed a little risky. So I was glad to see this discussion about Sharon Schamber's method and found her videos on youtube.com.

I clamped the backing to the table and layered the batting and top last night like Harriet Hargrave recommended and I've just gotten back from Hancock's with the DMC tatting thread that Sharon Schamber recommends using for hand basting. I am going to use a board to smooth out and provide a visual line to keep my sections of basting straight.

Once I start free motion quilting, if I accidently sew over a basting thread that I didn't remove fast enough, it won't be nearly as bad as getting exuberant with my meandering and hitting a safety pin!
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Elizabeth
  
Member since 4/17/07
Posts: 25
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Posted on: 8/22/09 8:46 PM ET
In reply to elizajo
Sharon Schamber recommended that you cut away the basting thread in the section you are going to quilt before you actually quilt it so that you don't have to worry about trying to sew over it. It works for me, I've had no problems with puckers or wrinkles or layers shifting on me. Also, I saw she uses the tatting thread, but I've only used regular thread and had no problems.

Stacey
  
Member since 4/15/05
Posts: 1290
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Re: Sharon Shambergs basting method (posted on 8/23/09 9:42 PM ET)
Well my first quilt basting is done... without a pucker! Using the combo of Hargrave's clamping to a table and Schamber's basting stitches, I have a secure double-bed sized quilt sandwich.

I draped the backing over a folding banquet 6' banquet table, and clamped. Then I layered and smoothed the batting and the pieced top. The excess fabric drapes over the edge of the table, so I had to reposition the quilt a few times during basting. A heavy board held the layers down after I smoothed everything with my hands. I used a line of safety pins to mark the vertical and horizontal midlines, and used them to help me baste from the middle out to the edges. It took about six hours for me to baste.

Now on to my first free motion quilting on a large project.
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Elizabeth
  
Member since 3/28/08
Posts: 393
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Posted on: 8/24/09 8:42 AM ET
In reply to sewfrequent
This weekend I basted and then quilted (stitching in the ditch)
a large lap size quilt (54 x 70 inches). I used Sharon's method exactly how she showed on the video.
All I can say is I'm sold! It worked great for me. And so much easier than spreading out on the floor, or having to climb over to baste in the middle first.
When I quilted by machine there were no puckers at all. (I always use a walking foot, which helps a lot).
Thanks for the link to her videos. I am going to use this method from now on. It makes me want to do more quilting. I used to always hate the layering and basting part, but this has really changed my outlook.
------
Sheila

God's love is infinite!
  
Member since 6/27/03
Posts: 3742
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Posted on: 8/24/09 1:44 PM ET
In reply to SheilaAnn
SheilaAnn, you were able to roll using the boards and all layers remained uniform? I wonder why I am finding that so difficult to do. Maybe it is easier with a larger quilt. Mine was a table runner...you'd think that'd be easier than large but maybe not.
  
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