Recently, while casting a critical eye over and around my cutting table, I noticed the book "Heirloom Machine Quilting" by Harriet Hargrove. I hadn't opened it in years. I did then, flipping through it to see if there were gems I could still pluck from the pages.
I was surprised to see her description of this very technique of pin basting, mainly because it wasn't from her book that I got this idea. It was from seeing it in 'action' on the blog "Making Scrap Quilts from Stash". Mary's blog suffered a meltdown recently and she's gradually rebuilding it; otherwise, I'd link directly to the post that inspired me to take my basting to the table (instead of crawling on the floor or taping it to a large, tiled bathroom wall).
It was a revelation and a back-saving technique. The 1" binder clips can be purchased in a package of 3 or 6 from Office D*p*t (I recommend 16 clips, minimum). I have 6 rectangles of cardboard taped together that I slide under the quilt sandwich before pinning. This protects the table's finish. If you have a table less than an inch in depth, I highly recommend this method of pin-basting your projects.
The book? It was donated to the library. It's a great beginners' guide, but I'm far beyond that stage!
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