A Few More Words and Basting a Double Sided Quilt

I'm loving my new Word Play Quilts book!  It is packed full of inspiring photos and easy to follow instructions. This technique of free piecing letters has added a whole new level of fun and whimsy to my quilting.

I finally finished piecing my Night and Day Quilt a few weeks ago when I was retreating with my mom.  

It is a double sided quilt made to fit a twin bed.  

I usually pin baste my quilt layers together before machine quilting. When basting a double sided quilt together it is so important to align side A and side B.  I place two 36"X60" cardboard cutting boards on top of my king size bed  (If you have tables to use it will be much easier on your back when pinning the layers together).  I use the reference lines on the cutting boards to align the bottom layer with the markings and use painters masking tape to secure the bottom.  I use extra long pieces of tape to mark alignment reference points to be used later when positioning the top layer.  

I carefully spread the batting out so the bottom of the quilt does not shift.  It helps to have an extra set of hands to lay out the batting and top.  When I put this quilt together I was home alone.  I folded my batting in half and then into quarters. I aligned the batting with one of the corners making sure that at least two inches of batting extended beyond the quilt back.  I unfolded it one section at a time and gently smoothed the batting out. Before positioning the top I lifted the edges of the batting to make sure my bottom layer had not shifted.  

I repeated the folding process with the quilt top, folding it in into quarters with the wrong side facing out.  Next I found my taped reference marks and lined up the pieced portion of the top with the pieced portion of the bottom (see photo above). Once the top was aligned and smooth I pinned the quilt with safety pins about 4" apart.  This over sized twin quilt took almost 300 safety pins to secure.  

Wishing you all well from a very snowy Wisconsin!  Chris