LoisN

Any suggestions on sandwiching quilts without crawling around on the floor. My old knees and back don't appreciate the activity. Therefore, I get the quilt tops made, but can't seem to make myself get them down on the floor to sandwich them for quilting. HELP!!! Any suggestions?

Piedmont Quilter

Do you have a church or rec center close by that would let you use their dining tables?

watterstide

Thats what we do, go to a community center..

LoisN

Even on a table, how do you get to the middle of the quilt if it's queen or king size?

AtHomeSewing

This free video will demonstrate a way to do it easily, without getting on the floor at all. Hope it helps:

http://sharonschambernetwork.com/fre...ing/index.html

Lisa_wanna_b_quilter

If you've got no choice but the floor, get volleyball kneepads. They help so much you won't believe it. Wal-mart has them for less than $10. Well worth the money.

azdesertrat

or a quilt shop nearby that will let you use their tables when they are not having classes,call and ask.Thats what i do,you might have to schedule a day when its available,so might not be as soon as you want,but its generaly free

watterstide

we crawl up on the table and sit on our butt, and pin from the center out..the tables hold us..no problem! lol

SharonC

Here's something we discussed on this QB a couple of months ago. Since then I've been basting my lap size quilts on the wall...yep, the wall. I put up a large flannel table cloth on the garage wall, secured with heavy duty (pieces) of velcro and using painter's tape a couple of straight pins for the top (usually 5) I spray basting glue on the back, smooth the backing on till I'm satisfied, then I spray the top portion of the top (seems easier than spraying the batting), and once I have the top portion all smooth I lift up the bottom and spray the bottom.
Oh, and b/c I'm short I place the top and bottom of the finished quilt sideways when basting on the wall so they are to the left and right (hope that makes sense).
This usually takes me about 15 minutes (and I'm picky) and it's wonderful...no for horrible back pain!!!
Hope it helps.
Sharon

vjengels

Yes,
there is a video on U Tube I found one day because I have the same complaint. I typed in hand basting quilt tops, or something similar; what came up was a video using 2 pieces of lumber, I think she used interior trim.... anyway, you starch both the top & back, load the back right side out on one bar, the batting stays loose, unrolled... the top gets loaded on another bar, but right side in. you lay the backing down on your table, unroll it towards you, maybe 18 or so inches, make sure it's smooth. put your batting down on top of that, then start to unroll your top towards you the same amount as the backing, smoothing it out, and making sure it's even... then she did this great harringbone stiitch that kept the sandwich from moving, and it'll stay like that until you're ready to quilt, tomorrow, next year... when ever! I love this method! and I bought a spool of water soluble thread, I don't have to cut out any basting..
you should take a peak at it. by the way, the size of the quilt you can work on this is only limited by how long your bars, and table are, my husband bought 2 pcs of 8 ft 1x4 and sanded them smooth for me, he even drilled a hole in the end so I can hang them when not in use.
Good luck