Granny Irwin

Your problem is just what others have said: You used a batting with too much loft. It's a common mistake of Newbies. I started with a loft of about 3". Gradually I moved down to something like Warm & Natural: thin cotton batting. Now my quilts look like quilts, rather than clouds caught in between fabric. Give it a try on your next one.

feffertim

try using basting spray instead of pins

jmarko

I use basting spray to sandwich my quilts. I have a large table but many of my quilts are still too large. You can spray and sandwich a quarter or a third at a time and get the layers tight. I use the new felted polyester batting. Get it at Joann's for $7.99 a yard but usually buy it with my 40% off coupon. Forgot what it is called.

KyKwiltz

Such a good point, Jan - I used to use all polyester batting (that's how I started), but fell in love when cotton batting gave me far better control. I use polyester only for small projects now (just to get rid of it).

Pieces2

Did you use a walking foot to quilt your quilt? I put my crib quilt on the dining room table and tape the edges down
on the backing, then layer and pin. I roll up the ends and use bicycle clamps to hold the rolls together.
Practice makes perfect.

quiltmom04

I think there are a lot of good options here, but for a child, this quilts looks really cuddly !

sewmary

I love your quilt. And I am jelous because your inside square points on your top don't disappear. someday I hope that will happen here

carolynjo

I can no longer get down on the floor, so I use a piece of plywood, covered with a vinyl checkered tablecloth to help me line things up on the top of my ironing board. I then use C clamps or picnic table clamps to hold down the layers of fabric so I can smooth them out and baste. Start in the middle. Move to right or left as you finish that section, move from top to bottom as you finish the sideways sections. You can raise the ironing board to the height that is comfortable for you and you will save your back and knees from a lot of grumbling! Note: I have two ironing boards and two boards side by side. I can base a fairly large quilt without much moving of the fabric around.

canuckninepatch

I have a design wall that my husband helped me put up on one wall of my sewing room. It is actually batting that I have mounted onto a large board, and then the board was attached to the wall. It makes a great area to layer quilts as well as being a design wall (it's vertical, so you're not down on hands and knees). I lay out a flannel sheet on the floor just below the design wall to catch any over-spray. I pin the top edge of the backing to the design wall, and then smooth it carefully from the middle out to the sides, and it usually doesn't even need pins on right or left side - it clings very well. Then I place the batting on the backing and smooth it out. Then I fold back the batting from the right side over to the left side so that the fold of the batting is along the vertical midline of the quilt top. Then I lightly spray baste the half of the batting that is on the top, and then carefully smooth it over the backing (batting is now open flat, and spray basted on the right side only). Then I fold the left side of the batting over the right, and repeat the light spraying of the adhesive on the batting. Then I carefull smooth the left side of the batting back over the left side of the backing, smoothing from the centre out to the edges. Now I lay the quilt top over the batting, and smooth it out. Then I repeat the folding in half procedure with the quilt top that I did with the batting. I tend to only spray the batting, and not the fabric itself. I don't know if this is crucial or not, but this procedure works VERY well for me. I then put some basting pins in the layers around the periphery of the quilt sandwich, and start quilting. I have had very good luck with this technique.

Also, I only use cotton batting (warm and natural or warm and white). Hope all this helps for the next quilt! (But this first quilt will always have a special place in yours and your family's hearts).

luce321

Your quilt is beautiful and I think you did a superb job. Your grandson is going to love snuggling in it.