Their Way?

When I was at the Comfort Quilt meeting, a few of us stood and pin basted about 9 quilts. It went fast. Lay the back, tape it. Lay and cut the batting. Lay the top. Pin.

Its not the method I like to use when I baste. I like the old style of thread & needle. I use a long doll making needle and have two of them, so it goes quickly for me. With this method, the sandwich of top, batting, back doesn't shift when it gets machine quilted.

I've brought home two comfort quilts to finish, both of which were pin-basted. I treated the machine quilting the same by moving slowly, smoothing fabric under the needle. So it surprised me to see a couple of these puckers on the back.
They are easy enough to rip and re-do, however, it was still disappointing to see. 

When I was at the table laying down the backs to tape, the women there all had their personal preferences to either tape it taut or give it some ease. 

What I heard was an assurance that making these comfort quilts got easier and helped with your personal work. Easier and better. This was part of the learning process to figure out which ways worked better for each quilter. 

Some times there is a wrong way to do a thing, whether its in quilting or some other endeavor, but at least in quilting, there is a ripper and a possible do-over.

With luck and a few pulls by my ripper, I can ease this pucker out. If anything, it feels better to SEE it now and make that change. I plan to baste my own quilts with needle and thread, and will continue to practice pin-basting on the comfort quilts. Maybe, just maybe, I will come to see the benefits. Or not.