Different Basting Technique

I've never been great at basting. I've tried laying it all out on the floor -- which sometimes requires crawling on top of it. I've tried taping the different layers to the ground before/during the basting process. I've tried several different methods of layering it across a desk, counter top, or another work surface. I've tried using self adhesive batting -- which requires an iron, some water, and depending on the size of the project, some crawling around on the floor again. Truthfully, I think for larger projects, I like a combination of the self adhesive batting mixed with a few pins to make sure things are really working well together. That's probably out of my reach for large projects again, since I'm without carpet and I don't want to risk the steam on the laminate -- and it's not something I really need for the smaller projects that fit on my ironing board.

So, I'm constantly struggling with how to make basting work better. Crawling around on the floor is never fun, and usually gives me less than ideal results. I don't currently have a desk top I'm willing to put pins against. And I didn't have any kind of fancy batting. So, I tried something new I had seen brief mention of on Pinterest (where else, of course). (link goes directly to source, not through Pinterest)

Using a combination of painter's tape and pins, I attached the backing and batting to a blank wall -- which I only had because I still haven't finished rearranging the office -- pinned the quilt top across the sandwich, and started pinning.

The basting part itself went very smoothly -- but this was a fairly small quilt to start with, so it might have worked just as well any other way. I'm hoping that this good luck rubs off on the rest of the process. I'm using the same batting I've fought with several other times (gotta use up what I've already bought), and so far quilting with it has not been a joy. There's a chance that a better baste could result in a smoother quilting experience -- or at least, I hope so.

If I get a few lines in and this is still a nightmare to work with, I'll probably rip it out and start over with a different batting. Sometimes I can deal with wrinkles and imperfections - but this is one I really want to turn out right.

Not much of an update -- but I have been trying to accomplish things around here.