I used to "go to church" and use their tables, but most of the time I use my quilt frames. I have four sticks now; my longest is 96 inches. I put this up in my living room or kitchen and roll around it with my rolling serger chair. I can pin baste this in less than an hour without having to roll the sides in. I have long arms and can reach the center.
I can tie a quilt for an hour or two and then my husband helps me roll the sides in. Then the quilt gets smaller and we can walk around it easier. But the sticks still stick out. Sometimes my husband wants to get to the other side, and I tell him to walk out the door, walk around the house and come back in another door. LOL

Ah, to be 27 again.

I use the dining room table with the pad turned upside down. The fuzz grabs the backing and keeps it smooth. Then batting then top. Works for me. on the last one (lap sized) I used glue. I am going to use it from now on. Worked great.

This looks like somthing I'll try next time - I've seen the video too, but didn't want to do all that thread basting. Up until now I've taped mine down on the carpet and agree, that's getting to be a real pain!

I have a flannel backed tablecloth that hangs on a wall and doubles as my design wall. I read about using the wall to make my sandwiches using basting spray. works very well. note I only make lap size quilts.

My quilting buddy has 4big tables in the basement..we tape down the edges of the backing and go from there. We have "mutual pinning and binding agreement "!

On the dining room table, I have a pad on it and if the quilt is too big, I pin half and fold under the other half so that I can tape it to the table. Works great for me!

I just had a friend make me 2 4x6 panels of styrofoam that is reinforced by some firring strips around the edges and a few times in the middle. My plan is to put those wherever I need them to hang my backing on - spray baste my batting and quilt top on - or pin I guess if I think I need to. I saw this on a youtube video the other day and immediately jumped on the idea. The materials cost a little less than $60. This will also now serve as my design wall with some flannel tacked on. Each panel weighs only about 4 lbs, so I can easily move them. I will have this in my home tonight and am excited to give it a shot. I have my first twin size quilt all ready to go.

Joyce, AZWENDYG on this board has a tute for that. It's the only way to go. I'll never do it the old way again.

The banquet tables at church. They are a better height for me and when I stay late on Sunday, I almost always have an interested helper!

Before we moved to an apt. I used my DR table with all the leaves in it, and I would center the quilt on the table, then I would smooth all 3 layers and pin baste, but rolling the quilt up as I pin basted. Now that we have "downsized", space is at a premium, and sometimes I get together with my girl friend and we use the dining tables in the basement of my church where we can spread out and I can sit and do the pin basting. My bad back and arthritic knees do not allow me to stand for any length of time. I'm thinking of asking "Santa" for the folding table in JoAnn's, as it would fold up into a small space.

I don't anyone who considers sandwiching/pinning a large quilt fun. I try to do mine at a community quilt class where we are fortunate to have large tables. When someone is pinning a quilt together I usually offer to help - as do others - it is not such an onerous task when done together. I am fortunate to also be able to use large tables at my church.

I use am ironing board with a 4 x 6' piece of plywood on it. (The plywood is covered with a vinyl tablecloth.) I then center the backing, spread out the batting, add the top as others have suggested. Clamp the quilt all around. Then start in the center and pin, baste, or spray baste the portion on the board. Move right or left and continue. I can walk around all sides and I do not have to bend over. Works for me.

I too go to my church and use the tables, one advantage of belonging to a very small church.

This is what I do, sometimes I pull the sandwich towards me so I don't have to lean so far in, I always pin the edges too. batting down first, spray, smooth the back on.. flip and spray the top of the batting and lay on the top. mark a center on sides of all pieces to match up, and it's usually good to go. You can peal back and re-smooth out if necessary.

I use tables in the garage, end to end until I have most of the quilt supported. I use my grandmothers old quilting frame boards, I roll the backing up on one, the batting up on one and then the top. Her frame has four boards. I place them at one end and roll out each part while spray basting it together. It works much like a grace frame that way. I then pin it in strategic places and roll it up til I can quilt it.

I like her tute on utube..and i did try this.. the only problem i was having, is keep the fabric taut..or tight enough aound the boards.. is there a trick to this ? I would love for someone to tell me ..! Thanks..

I have a makeshift table that *barely* fits in my living room with room to get around all four sides. If I had to, I could clear out part of the garage and make it easier.

It's made with two 34" tall sawhorses, five 8' long 2x4"s and two sheets of 5/8" OSB plywood split in half lengthwise, to make them easier to handle.

The first picture is from upstairs, looking down on top of the 8' square table with a quilt on it, the second picture is taken from the side, showing the sawhorses and the third is a sketch showing how to layer the 2x4"s first perpendicular to the sawhorses, then the second layer perpendicular to the first, and then the four half-sheets of OSB.

The OSB is great because it's rough enough to hold the backing taut without taping, but I do use binder clamps along one side if I'm working on a quilt which doesn't cover then entire table.

The table is high enough that I don't have to bend or lean - I pin or tag-baste along one edge, as far as a foot and a half or two feet in toward the center. Then I fold the basted part and pull the whole quilt toward me and baste another 18" or so, fold, etc.

Setting the table up is a bit of a pain, so I try to have a batch of tops, batts and backings prepared to do all at once. :)

Depending on size....dining room table...top of the deep freeze (chest type) or for biggies....our bed.

I'm amazed at the many different ways you ladies do this. In my situation the only large area I have besides the floor would be a queen size bed then the dining room table. I'd like to try doing it on the bed but I'm worried about being able to smooth it out properly what with the give of the mattress and all. Do those of you who use a bed also lay down a piece of plywood to make it firmer?

Ditto and additionally, wouldn't you need the plywood, or something to keep from pining the sandwich to the bed?

I'm still doing the flying angel on the basement floor, but I still have kids at home to help me up. I need some alternatives for when they fly the coop, and am getting some really good ideas :) Thanks ladies!

I like to anchor the batting to the carpet with long flower straight pins, smooth and pin down the batting the same way on the the edges, then I layer the quilt top and press it lightly. I anchor the edges the same way then start pinning, about 5 inches apart. It is a pain and I hurt all day afterwards but I do love a pinned quilt. The spray bothers me, so I only use it in the summer, outside.

Here's a link to Patsy Thompson's video on using a basting wall. She really makes it look easy.

http://www.patsythompsondesigns.com/free-video/

I would love to try this but am in an apartment and don't have enough free wall space. However, my daughter recently moved and I still have her queen size mattress standing up in the living room. I covered it with an old sheet and spray basted a couple of table runners the other day, lol. Worked great. Makes me think Patsy's method would be terrific but I don't know where I could store the panels.

I have no problem with the mattress "giving", but that being said, we do have a firm style. Just strip off the bedding, except for the bottom sheet and I'm good to go....Our bed is also quite high, you have to hop up to get on it, so less strain on my back. The plywood would be a good idea....you could always store it under the bed.