I just figured out something I should have figured out a long time ago!
When assembling the quilt sandwich, I’ve always used three 6′ pieces of 1 x 3 pine. (I prefer the boards to pool noodles because their weight makes smoothing the fabric/batting easier). I roll up each layer on a board, then open out some backing, position and roll out some batting, then position the quilt top on top.
Today, I realized what I should be doing is uniting the batting and backing into a single layer which allows me to smooth the backing on the batting before rolling the one layer onto a board! Before adding the quilt top, I know my backing is smooth. Now, why didn’t I figure that out before?
Once I have the smoothed backing/batting layer on a board, I can start rolling it out, then position the quilt top and start pinning.
Creating the sandwich this way means I’m not struggling to keep the backing smooth when I’m pinning because it’s already been “attached” to the batting and all I have to worry about is the pieced top.
I now have my quilt sandwich pinned and ready to quilt. First, stitch in the ditch, then embroider each diamond. I can’t group the diamonds to be able to do fewer embroideries because each is 9 1/2″ vertical length and double that is much too large for any embroidery hoop available. So it’s one diamond at a time, I’m afraid, for all 200+ diamonds. The design I’ve created is a simple single run design – it’s purpose is just to hold the layers together. Each embroidery will go reasonably quickly.
I also want to share a video I came across today from the Missouri Quilt Company – Seam Ripping 101. In the video Natalie Earnheart “walks through what a seam ripper looks like, how it works, and how to use it.” Take a few minutes to watch; you’ll discover things you didn’t know about ripping out seams.
Now back to work.
jmn 
Thanks for the info!
Interesting how you do the sandwiching. Have you ever tried spray? I’ve used it on the last few baby quilts I’ve done and been quite happy pleased with it. Bernie
I have used spray but it’s not good for my chronic cough. Also, I find Warm ‘n Natural holds both top and bottom fabric well so some pinning keeps the sandwich stable enough for me to quilt in the hoop.
Hope you show a picture of how you do that. Still trying to figure out how the long wood rods go away.
My cutting table is just about 6’ long (36” wide) – the boards fit along the length. I start by unrolling 20-25” the bottom (backing /batting) across the width of my cutting table (the bulk of that layer is still on the 6’ board). Next I unroll a short bit of the quilt top (on a separate board), carefully position it 2-3” from the edge of the bottom layer – and pin it at the edge across the width, and a second row of pins about 6”-8” up from the edge. I loosely roll up the pinned portion then unroll a bit more backing / batting, followed by more of the quilt top, pin two more rows, and roll the pinned portion a bit more. I keep unrolling backing / batting and quilt top from the boards about a foot at a time, pinning and rolling up the pinned portion so that there is room on the table to unroll the unpinned layers from the boards. I keep unrolling from the boards, pinning, rolling the pinned portion until the layers are completely unrolled from the boards and the pinned sandwich is all rolled up!