2 handy helpers for your quilting needs: Odif 505 and UNIQUE Dye Catcher

Welcome back! Yesterday, we pieced our table topper together. Today, we get ready to finish the project.

First, we baste; then, we quilt. When I baste a quilt, I use Odif 505 Temporary Quilt Basting Adhesive Fabric Spray. More on that in a bit.

Before we do anything else, the backing fabric needs to be cut, so, once again I’ll use my UNIQUE 17″ x 24″ Folding Cutting Mat. When I write these posts, I work in my kitchen since it’s a big room with lots of natural light. This way I have the space to set up for taking photos. The table I use is two feet wide; perfect for the folding cutting mat!

Before I get started, I’d like to go over the topic of prewashing (or not) your fabrics before starting a project. There are as many views on this topic as there are settings on a washing machine, and I’m on the fence about whether to prewash fabric or not.

Some quilters prewash their fabrics to reduce any shrinkage after the quilt is completed. Others, like me, wash when there’s a chance the fabric’s colors may run or bleed. The last thing I want is purple dye all over white fabric! The colors on digitally printed and many regular printed fabrics don’t run, compared to batiks, which will. For peace of mind, I often take a swatch of colored fabric and put it in a glass of hot water. If the water changes color, I know the fabric must be prewashed.

Note: If you need to prewash one fabric for the quilt, all the quilt’s fabrics should be prewashed.

When I prewash, I add a dye catcher sheet to the wash. If the fabrics are batiks, I may put two or three sheets in the washer with the fabric. I use UNIQUE Home Dye Catcher. It comes in a box of 20 sheets and will last a while. These sheets do a great job trapping dye particles and saving much aggravation.

Now that the washing’s done (or not), today’s fabric requirement is one 20″ x width of fabric strip for the table runner’s backing.

Lay the backing fabric face down on a flat surface.

Using masking tape, tape the fabric to the surface. Prepare a piece of batting large enough to cover the entire backing fabric. I do all my basting using Odif 505 Temporary Quilt Basting Adhesive Fabric Spray. I’ve tried other brands but, in my opinion, this one is the best by far. Odif 505 quilt basting spray is odorless, colorless, has no mist, and doesn’t gum sewing needles. It has many uses, including machine applique, quilting, basting, holding fabric to stabilizers in machine embroidery, and hemming. Odif 505 spray is acid free and contains no CFCs – short for Chlorofluorocarbons, which are harmful to the earth’s ozone layer.

Spray a light coat of 505 temporary adhesives on the wrong side of the backing fabric. Carefully place the batting on the backing fabric. Ensure there are no lumps or folds in the batting.

Spray another light coat of 505 on the batting and carefully place your runner top on top of the batting, right side up. Again, make sure there are no bumps or wrinkles.

Note: Some may be wondering why I spray the batting and not the back of the table runner. I’ve always done it this way and I’ve never had issues. Spraying the batting versus the fabric comes down to a personal choice.

Now that the table runner is basted, how will I quilt it, and which threads will I use?

When I’m working with a small quilt project like this one, I keep the quilting simple. So today, I’ll quilt by sewing along each side of the block’s different elements.

Which thread will I use? Gütermann Cotton 60wt Thread 200m and Gütermann Cotton 30wt Thread 300m.

Still, thread questions remain – which type and color thread should you use when quilting, and where? Well, it’s up to the quilter.

I often use a 50wt thread for quilting, as it gives an effect that I like. However, there are days when I want to add a design element to the quilt top via the quilting. At such times, I first quilt around every element of the quilt with 30wt thread, then echo those quilt lines with 60wt thread to give it a shadow effect.

Voilà, the quilting is done!

Using a Gütermann Cotton 50wt Thread, or a Gütermann Cotton 60wt Thread or even a Gütermann Cotton 30wt Thread is a personal choice. Don’t be afraid to play around and try out different threads to see the effects quilting thread choice can have on your finished quilts. There’s also a Gütermann Cotton 12wt Thread, which I’m looking forward to trying out soon.

The basting was quick and easy using Odif 505 Temporary Quilt Basting Adhesive Fabric Spray. And the quilting looks great with the Gütermann threads I’ve chosen. Now, the only thing left to do to complete the table runner is to bind the edges. Come back tomorrow for a quick refresher on binding a quilt.

This is part 4 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 3: For home or away, the UNIQUE Folding Cutting Mat is the one you need!

Go to part 5: Gütermann threads for all your quilting projects