JoanPD

I have made a few small lap quilts before, and have just finished piecing a larger queen size quilt.

I got some wide fabric for the backing, and got the batting.

I'm having troubled getting the large backing piece of fabric ironed, along with getting the quilt top ironed. I have a standard ironing board. As soon as I get one spot ironed, and move it around, it piles up and wrinkles up again.

I also am not sure how I'm going to bate this quilt, as I I don't have a large surface to spread it out on. Even none of the floor surfaces here is large enough.

cjsews

I have 2 of those cardboard cutting mats from when I made clothes. They fit on my queen bed for basting my quilts. I have to move the part that hangs over the edge after I get the majority of the top done. As for ironing, well I do the best I can and smooth out as I layer the pieces to baste

sewingpup

umm...check and see if any of the local quilt shops have a longarmer that will baste the quilt for you. I am assuming you are going to do the quilting on your DSM? I have a long arm now but I have basted a full size quilt together using a rectangular dining room table. I just lined up the centers of the backing, batting, and top and then started pining down the center of all three, then worked my way down each side from the center out, smoothing things out as I went. When I press, I sometimes just don't pay attention if it just looks like a wrinkle, if it doesn't "feel" like a wrinkle when I run my fingers over it, I am OK with it as the wrinkles I can "see" but not feel somehow don't show when the quilting is done. Magic I guess. But the deep creases have got to go!

Iceblossom

I am another quilter in a small space. Far from ideal, my largest work surface is my queen sized bed. Even less ideal is I have four posters. I take off the blankets and pillows and cover the bed with brown kraft paper for a better surface and to protect against spray baste (my preferred method). So, yes, I have to do it in sections, not quilt as you go but in halves across the bed.

If you have anyone who has access to a conference room or large school lunchroom tables or anything like that, is a lot easier than going on the floor anyway.

For the ironing, I put my ironing board along side my couch (or bed again) and let that take some of the drape. If you go along the long edges first, hopefully you don't have to do a lot in the middle. I don't iron my back until I am ready to use it...

WMUTeach

I have from time to time requested the use of the ping pong table at my church, but that was pre-COVID. When we used to have craft days, I would save up my quilts to be layered and take over two banquet tables and layer away. My quilting group met at a library and on our monthly "work day" many of us would layer, but the those have disappeared since COVID too. I don't have space on a table either and crawling about on the floor is not a good option for old knees. I can layer a baby sized quilt on my quilt wall but much bigger than that is not very efficient. So, suggested solution is to think creatively of a place that has a large surface you could use for an hour: church, community hall, library, school, senior center and so forth.

Ironing .... The wrinkles left behind when the top "puddles" around the ironing board can be smoothed out when your layer. When I finish a top, I iron and then fold the top in quarters and hang in a closet with a pants hangers, the ones with the clips. Then they can hang for months and not get wrinkled again. Ta-Da! Ready to go when I am ready to layer. I even hang the backing in the same way and sometimes even the binding on the same hanger.

Iceblossom

I was lucky enough to get a free (folding) ping pong table about 2 weeks ago!! It helps that I've been looking for one and we have a truck. It has been on my list of highly desired quilting objects for some time, it is a better height and surface than a bed. My house is still too small to open it up inside and I will always have to use it outside, but for the 3-4 times a year I need it I can deal with a bit of weather. Unfortunately, I don't have a garage where I can store it well, so for now it is tarped outside. In my further house reorganizations it should be able to fit in the (what should then be cleared) laundry room.

I found some nice clamps to use to hold down the fabric/batting, the table is only 1/2" thick so 1" clamps are fine. I tried out several at the hardware store, some were too hard for me to really open up. And then I was at Big Lots of all places and found 2 packs of clamps for $3 that are sturdy enough and that I can squeeze and I am now set. Except the machine I use for quilting is in the shop...

Rhonda K

Think in sections of quarter quadrants. Mark the center of the sides, center of top, and center of bottom on all layers. You can use pins, tape, or marking pen. Line up the sections on top of each other using the marks and smooth out wrinkles.

cashs_mom

I've used this method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPaIzuoY6Bg ever since I saw it a year or two ago. It works very well and you can use it for any size table or surface.

I use an old wool blanket I bought at a garage sale over a table to iron my quilt tops. Works great once you get used to ironing on that surface.

juliasb

What I like to do is go to the local senior center and use one of their tables. I glue baste anymore and I can get it done quickly there.

thimblebug6000

I baste on my dining room table, just as sewingpup described. I put a safety pin on the backing fabric in the centre on the right side, and then I can feel through the sandwich making sure the centres are lined up. Once everything that is on the table is pinned, I shift it to the next section, carefully smoothing out the backing, then the batting, and then the top. And complete all my pinning this way. Then make sure to remove the safety pin on the RS of the backing, because otherwise you break your needle on it, or you sew it right into the quilt. Yes...I have done it more than once