Saturday, April 3, 2010

Quick little basting tute

I ran across a gal in blogland last night, who had major sore fingers from basting her quilt.
I left her a comment explaining this easy peasy wonderful way to baste.
But got to thinking... I wonder how many people don't know about this??
So thought I would post a quick little tutorial on how to save your finger tips and be able to baste all day every day!
Tools you'll need:
A smallish (normal medium size work too) flathead screwdriver
Quilting (i like curved) safety pins
Set your quilt up to baste like you normally do.
Everything is the same - except you don't use your fingertips to clip these puppies closed!
The screwdriver does all the work for you :)
Slide your saftey pin down and in, and holding the head of the screwdriver on top of the fabric, push down. This will stabilize the fabric where it is coming up, so the fabric doesn't move, and the pin point comes up nice and easy.
As the tip comes up right in front of the SD - the SD head is under the pin point. Slightly turn the screwdriver tip upward, and push down on the top of the safety pin to latch.
It's THAT EASY!
The screwdriver does all the hard work for you, and your sweet tender little fingers don't take the brunt of it all!
Trust me. You gotta try this!
You can baste soooo much faster, and easier - you'll never be caught without your screwdriver again!! :D I just got done basting three quilts in under two hours - and my fingers are smiling! :)

7 comments:

Suburban Stitcher said...

Great idea! Thank you so much for sharing this!

WoolenSails said...

I have seen a tool for that, but I have never used one.
I have little fingers, so guess it is easier for me;)
May you and your family have a Blessed Easter!

Debbie

Jacque. said...

The 'tool' for doing that costs about $8...certainly cheaper to use a screwdriver when it works as well. I don't use one, though...I seem to have no problems. Hey, and I basted a quilt this afternoon, myself. YAY!

moosecraft said...

Awesome tip, Bren!!! Thanks so much for sharing this with us! Happy Easter to you and yours!

Joanne said...

Bren - You are the woman! I don't quilt but thanks for sharing your knowledge all the time

michelle allen said...

you're making me want to make a quilt!! i guess i better get busy finishing all the other projects that i've started so i can!

Gayle said...

Bren - I use a grapefruit spoon that I found at the thrift store when I use safety pins to baste my quilts together. It has some little notches that make it easy to maneuver the pin and close it...