Glue Basting: How to Glue Baste a Quilt
I recently discovered glue basting, and it is an efficient and foul-proof way to baste a quilt!
This might be my shortest-ever tutorial, because glue basting is so incredibly fast and easy.
Supplies Needed:
A quilt top, batting and backing
Elmer’s Glue
A Foam Brush
A table to work on
General quilting advice is that your batting should be several inches wider and long than both backing and the quilt top. Because I do my own basting and quilting, I aim to have my batting and backing approximately the same size, and approximately 2” longer and wider than the quilt top.
Since I’m not rolling it onto a long arm machine, and since quilting supplies are expensive, I want the least amount of waste possible.
Note, if you are sending your quilt off to a long-arm quilter, you need to follow their requirements for size of batting and backing. You can’t tell them, “But Darcy says…”
I work on my kitchen table, but whatever your work space for quilt basting or for quilting in general, to glue baste a quilt you will start by spreading out the batting on the table, and then the backing on top of that. Well, I suppose you could start with the quilt top. I always start with the back but it probably doesn’t matter too much.
Make sure to smooth out wrinkles and have edges aligned. An extra run over with the iron is not a bad idea at this point.
Pull the backing and batting to one side of the table. The edges of the batting and backing should be flush with the edge of the table.
Fold back about 6-8 inches of backing.
Continue to fold back the backing, always about 6-8 inches at a time, until you’ve reached about the middle of the quilt back.
Now you’re ready for some glue!
I add glue to about 6-8 inches of the batting at a time. You may choose to start with less, and the more you baste, and the more comfortable with this method you get, you can certainly double the area you are working with at a given time.
I put my glue on in loops. You can do squiggles or lines or loops or whatever. Just keep in mind, less is more. Err on the side of not enough glue, rather than too much.
Use a small-ish foam brush to spread out the glue that you’ve just applied. I stand on the near side of the work space, and I use one hand to hold the backing and batting still and the brush in the other to spread the glue. I start near the bottom, closest to where the backing is folded up, and I paint away from the backing, toward the far side of the batting.
It’s hard to see in the next photo, but there is a fine layer of glue on the batting. It’s been spread by the foam brush, and there is just a little bit covering all of the visible batting.
Unfold one 6-8 inch layer of backing, and smooth by hand. The glue takes a bit to dry. If there are any wrinkles it is a simple matter to lift the backing from the batting, reposition, press and smooth.
I choose to iron after every 6-8 inch section. If a bubble or wrinkle is going to appear, I want to know about it when only a few inches of repositioning is needed, rather than the entire backing or quilt top.
Ironing helps the glue to dry faster, so that you can quickly get on to the business of quilting. You definitely need to iron at the end of basting, even if you choose not to iron every step of the way while basting.
Continue, working section by section, from the middle of the project to the far edge.
Then, move back to the far side of the quilt (the not yet basted side) and fold back the backing in 6-8 inch sections as before. Keep folding back until you’ve reached the place where the previous glue basting starts.
As before, work from the middle of the quilt, one small section at a time until you reach the other edge.
Now, the quilt I basted in this tutorial is less than a kitchen table’s width from side to side. What to do with wider quilts?
Here is a graphic that shows how I divide a wider quilt into workable sections.
When looking at the quilt from top to bottom, I still start in more or less the middle.
I baste a 6-8 inch section along the right side of the work space, then move over and baste the SAME 6-8 inch section along the left side. Then I stay on the left and baste the next 6-8 inch section before moving back over to the right.
Once done basting the back, flip the whole thing over so that the batting is facing up. Place the quilt top onto the batting and backing.
As long as there is a bit of batting/backing around every side of the quilt top, for this type of basting it doesn’t really matter how much.
As with the backing, glue baste from the center towards the edges, working 6-8 inches at a time, and ironing frequently.
And THAT is how to glue baste a quilt!
As long as your glue is fully dry, you can start quilting. If your glue is not fully dry, do some additional ironing, or take a break for a bit. I like to glue baste at the end of the day, and then let it dry overnight.
This is why it’s so important to put a very thin layer of glue on the batting. Great glops of glue are going to take far longer to dry than a thin, little layer.
Is Glue Basting Really Better Than Other Methods to Baste?
Now, you are probably wondering, what is the benefit to glue basting?
There are several!
One, Elmer’s glue is so much cheaper than spray basting.
Two, no yucky chemicals floating in the air. That smell you’ve noticed when spray basting is the aerosol can spraying chemicals into the air you breathe.
Three, glue basting is so much faster than pin basting!
Four, it is incredibly accurate.
I do my own quilting. I’ve written several tutorials about straight line quilting, you can check those out here, here and here.
Let me show you some photos so you can see how smooth the quilting is on a quilt that has been glue basted.
This quilt that I used to show you how to glue baste was a baby quilt made from Triangles and Stripes. I started my quilting ¼” from either side of every horizontal stripe.
This is what the back looks like after that first round of quilting.
No bumps or wrinkles of any kind.
Well yes, Darcy, there are no bumps or wrinkles. But even if your backing wasn’t smooth, all of your quilting is in parallel lines, so this doesn’t really show anything.
Well alright then, let’s do some quilting in another direction!
After quilting ¼” to the right and left of the triangle seams, this is what the quilt top looks like.
And the backing.
A perfectly delightful baby quilt, for a perfectly delightful baby!
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26 Comments
Vickie
Excellent tutorial
I have not started from the center, I will try that the next time.
Your point of a light sheen of glue is so important. I tried to save time and did not do a good job of brushing the glue out. Big mistake!
Darcy
Vickie, From the edges should work too, I just prefer to start in the middle. Yes, it is certainly easy to have too much glue make a mess in a hurry!
Patty Laughlin
Does the glue make a residue on your needle when you Quilt it?
Darcy
Patty, I wait until the glue has dried fully. I often try to time my quilting to do the basting in the evening and let it dry over night. I have not noticed any residue.
Patti
Very interesting. I made a note to give this method a try.
Darcy
Thanks Patti! I really, really like glue basting better than spray or pin basting. I notice the improvement on the backing the most.
Janice Lindemann
Be sure to specify Elmer’s SCHOOL GLUE
Darcy
Yes, definitely! Elmer’s School Glue.
Laurie
If you iron, doesn’t it heat set the glue so it doesn’t wash out?
Darcy
I haven’t had any trouble with washing the quilts after glue basting, they always come out of the wash soft and cuddly.
Cathy Sawatzky
Wow, I have used Elmer’s glue on binding and will try this next. Looks awesome. Thanks
Darcy
It’s a game changer, for sure!
Barb Lewis
How is it that the thick bead of glue spreads out over such a rough and absorbant service as the batting and also not get sucked into the foam brush? I’m understanding the concept but perhaps thinking it too much…Debbie Downer, here. Do you thin the glue out a bit? Maybe it’s that I haven’t had a bottle of Elmers around in years and don’t recall it’s consistancy. I have some table runners in mind and will give the concept a try. I would sooo like to not have to set up an outside table in order to spray my glue. FYI for the quilter who asked about sticky needles, I have a package of SCHMETZ 5 SUPER NONSTICK NEEDLES. Super Universal 130/705 H-SU 80/12.
Darcy
Some of the glue does get absorbed into the foam brush, but not too terribly much. I just read it out with dish soap when I’m done and air dry for future use. The glue sort of sits on top of the batting, making it easy to spread. I do think it a bit, to use less, but I think the bathing absorbs more when it’s watered down then when it’s not. Great idea to start with a small project before going all in with a large quilt!
Mary Pereira
Loved the idea! I will try it on my next project!
Darcy
I have to warn you, it’s addicting!
Patti Fietz
How do you protect your table from the heat of the iron when you “iron as you go?”
Darcy
The layer of batting protects the table. My table is old and best up, so I didn’t worry too much about heat. If you have a nicer or newer table, you could definitely use a second or even third layer of batting as extra protection. As long as the glue and iron don’t touch the extra batting, it should be fine to use in a future project.
Patti Fietz
Thanks for your reply and your tutorial. Will try this.
Maree Johnston
hI I HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE STITCHING ON THE BACK OF THE QUILT AS IT APPEARS NOT TO HAVE GRABBED AND HAVE HAD TO RIP THE WHOLE THING OUT ANY TIPS TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING HAVE ALREADY DILUED THE GLUE
Darcy
Maree, It sounds like you might be having trouble with the thread tension in your machine. Do you have a user’s manual that will walk you through how to adjust the tension?
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