I don’t know about you, but basting is the part of quilting that I absolutely dread the most. I’m always looking for a good way to get out of basting a quilt. One of my favorite ways to baste is with leftover scraps of Wonder Under fusible web.

This technique is great for small wall hangings like my quilt, Penny for a spool of thread I, which is 9.5″ square. It can leave your quilt a bit stiff, but on the wall that’s a good thing … helps the quilt hang nice and straight. And if you’re just learning to machine quilt, a stiff quilt is much easier to maneuver than a floppy one.

Just save your leftover pieces of Wonder Under, remove the paper and cut it up into small pieces, around 1/2″ more or less.

Lay out the batting and sprinkle the Wonder Under pieces evenly across the surface. Spreading it evenly is more important than how much you use. Uneven application can cause ripples in your finished quilt. Use a little or use a lot, just keep it fairly consistent across the quilt. More fusible = stiffer quilt. Less fusible = softer quilt.

(If the quilt is large enough that you envision having to fold it for storage or shipping, cut the Wonder Under into smaller snippets and spread them sparingly. Large pieces of fusible can crease when folded, and creases are no fun to remove.)

Carefully place the quilt top on top of the batting and press with a hot iron from the center outwards. Press the fabric and avoid the batting sticking out past the edges in case of stray Wonder Under bits.

Trim the excess batting, then turn the quilt over and sprinkle Wonder Under pieces on the other side of the batting. Iron the backing to the other side of the quilt sandwich.

Turn the quilt back over to the front side, trim the excess backing, and then quilt as desired. If you need some quilting inspiration, visit Leah Day’s blog, 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Designs.

happy quilting! =(^_^)=