Question for Katana

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Katana, I believe you've mentioned in the past that you're a quilter. I'm wondering if you use any of the temporary adhesive sprays like 505. If so, what precautions do you take to protect the birds? And if not, how do you secure your quilt sandwich? I'm new to quilting, and I'd like to use this product but I'm paranoid about its potential to hurt my birds.

 

Thanks!

[katana600]

Sorry I missed this post for so long. Yes, I use the 505 spray for quilting and I love it! Fortunately for me, I have a walkout basement for my sewing and there is a door separating my upstairs where the birds stay if I am doing anything dangerous. But, if you don't have a separate area like a bedroom where you could close the door, you might call on a friend to allow you come over, spray and then take the quilt home to work on it. Once the spray is in place, you don't get any more odor or have any issues. I think it is the propellant that I would be concerned about. So, what I would do is to lay the quilt back on the floor, I have folded and marked my centers. The back is about two inches bigger all the way around. Next, layer the batting and sometimes I will put a safety pin at the centers so I can feel them through the batting. Then I layer the top matching my centers. Now, put newspaper under the edge of the fabric to protect your floor from overspray. Fold back the quilt top and batting half way so half your backing is exposed. Spray lightly from ten to fifteen inches away. You dont need a lot of the spray nor to have every inch sprayed, it is a basting, you aren't gluing your pieces together, just tacking. Smooth and fold the batting onto the part you just sprayed on the backing fabric. Next, spray the batting lightly and fold over the quilt top smoothing it as well. That does the first half, repeat for the second half. A job that would take most of my day if I was basting or tacking by hand, will take about a half hour max to spray baste. If you have more questions on quilting, PM and I will send you my home email address. I love that you are quilting. You go girl.

[katana600]

Oh, I just can't stop. If you don't have a convenient place to lay the quilt sandwich for spray basting, you can lay a flat sheet on the driveway, deck, grass etc, and do basically the same thing outside. It takes a little more work and in winter if you really sweep the garage floor, or lay down a good clean tarp or drop cloth, that might work. Another way I have tried it with a smaller quilt before I had my space downstairs was to use my design wall made just by stapling a big piece of cotton batting along the top of a wall, then pinning my quilt pieces up on the design wall to spray one layer at a time and put the batting on, held by pins at the top for extra security and then spray and then smooth the top on. That was a two person job, but saved backs and knees when we didn't have floor space. I would close the bedroom door, open the window and let it air out in there after I was finished.