Binding a Quilt Using the Backing

My last finish was Soar, and in the making of it, I had a bit of an epiphany when I realized that the backing would make the most perfect multi-colour bright binding. I had enough to actual cut binding strips, but it was late, and I was tired, so I knew enough to tell myself I'd trim the quilt and cut the binding in the morning when I'd be fresh.

Well my brain chugged along through the night and early morning like the little train that could, and I ended up having a lightbulb moment when I thought, 'why not try binding the quilt as I do some placemats, by carefully (that is key!) trimming the batting only, with scissors, and then trimming the backing beyond the edges of the quilt, folding it under twice and topstitching it down onto the front! I've never done a big quilt this way, though I've used the technique on several placemats. I couldn't for the life of me remember how to get the mitred corners, but eventually, it all came back.

So here, for future reference of placemats, minis, wallhangings, or quilts, is what I did.

Flanged Binding Tweaked - A Tutorial

By now you know that I quite like a flanged binding. Tish got me onto Susie's Magic Binding at Aunt Marti's 52 Quilts.  It makes a really great binding.  My problem was that at 2.5" it was too wide, especially for wallhangings, and I ended up cutting off points when I applied the binding, despite there being ample seam allowance.  Solution? Trim the quilt sandwich to larger than 1/4" seam allowance or adjust the binding widths.

I elected to adjust the binding widths, to end up with a 2.25" wide binding, my preferred width.  Here is what I've come up with.  Thank you to Jean of All Points of the Compass for the suggestion to have it out before the Freefall QAL final parade of quilts on June 15.  Which is just around the corner--like how?? There's a little update about that at the bottom of this tutorial.

All right. Let's do the binding.  I used pictures of Harbinger of Spring, my version of Tish and David's first oh-so-pretty pattern available on Craftsy, still at a reduced price, to do this tutorial. You can see the pop of yellow just inside the perimeter of the quilt.

1. You need two colours, your main, (mine is the striped) and the flange, (mine is the yellow).  The flange will be your pop of colour.  Something that struck me as a bit odd is that your flange is cut wider than your main colour, but so it is.  Cut the main 1.25" and the flange 1.5".  Cut enough strips to go around the perimeter of your quilt plus about 10" extra for joining the ends. Join them as you would any binding, on a 45° angle, pressing the seams open or closed.

A note on pressing: I've done both; because of the 45° angle, the seams are evenly distributed across the binding edge, so it really doesn't matter, and I do tend to think pressing to one side is stronger.  Some of my quilts are a little over 20 years old now, and the binding edge has started to fray; I've even had to repair some hand stitches on a couple of quilts, so they do wear... and that's a good thing! That means they're loved and used.  Here there is a little extra bulk because of the joined strips of two colours, so I will usually press the seams open.

2. Now sew the two lengths together on the long long edge.  Before starting to sew, read step 3!

3. Worth noting: try to avoid what you see below. Before starting to sew the binding strips together along the long edge, run them through your hands together to see if they will be a little more offset than you see mine here.  Again, it will help to reduce bulk.  Mine ended working fine; I was not ripping this out after sewing 180+ inches together!

4. Press the seams towards the main fabric.  Having a quilt inspector for this step, along with that Steamfast little iron which I just love, keeps everything in line. (Affiiliate link there, but I would never steer you wrong on a great purchase.)

5. Then, align and press the raw edges together.  This is what happens because of the different widths of each binding strip:

A very narrow stripe of the flange colour will appear at the bottom. That is perfect.  Look at the flange (all-yellow) side; all you see is yellow!

6. Sew the binding to the back of your quilt using your walking foot, with a 1/4" seam allowance, and having the main fabric against the backing of your quilt; the flange side is up.

I tend to align the binding a hair's width inside the edge of the quilt sandwich. This just allows that 'leetle' bit extra when folding it around to the front.  Below you see what it looks like after you've finished piecing it to the quilt back.

Join the ends as you would your regular binding.  Here is the final join.  I'm getting pretty decent at nailing the alignment of the binding and the flange!

My own tutorial is here for getting a lovely 45° angle join of the two binding ends.  One thing I've found with this technique is that it is pretty tricky getting the joined strips of binding to line up nicely but if you stab through the layers with a pin straight up and down, leaving the pin like a nail at that join, and then pin regularly through the layers on either side of the 'nail', you can get a pretty good alignment. This will make sense when you actually do the join.

7. Press the binding away from the quilt back, nice and flat, as you see below.

8.  Then bring it around to the front of the quilt and press it flat again.  You could glue it down; I've done both: glued and not glued.  I prefer the glue method (Elmer's School Glue - it's non-toxic and washable) as it makes the stitching mindless.  Stitch in the ditch between the flange (yellow) and the main (stripes) binding.  I match the thread to the flange, so here I used yellow, with a white or cream in the bobbin.

It looks relatively neat but for the stitching line, on the back.  However, once the quilt is washed, that pretty much melts into the quilt back.

Ta da!  Pretty slick, no?

Freefall Update!
You have one more week to finish up your quilts.  Originally I thought the parade would be for finished quilts only, but you know what? Life happens to us all, and it certainly has been a-happenin' to me as you well know, over the past couple of months.

So.

I have lots of prizes and I'd love for each one of you who has faithfully been quilting along, to be eligible for a prize.  I know that life stuff, some good, some not so good, has happened to some of you over the past little bit, so a flimsy in my books is good enough for entry into the parade and draws.

Deal?

Good.  I thought so.

Linking up:
Sew Fresh Quilts
Quilt Fabrication

Binding Tutorial Take 2!

Take 2:  a second look at Joining the Binding Ends and there are 2 TWO tutorials here.

When I did the binding on Uncle Frank's quilt I took pictures at each step of the process in the hopes that this will be it.  Clear!  Almost everyone, lol, said the binding tutorial on Auntie Joyce's quilt was really good.  I do think that UF's binding fabric is easier to see right and wrong side of fabric, and I broke the joining the ends part down even further here (so there are a TON of photos).  However, if you are new to binding, new to joining the ends in this fashion, or new to using the glue and pressing, this is one of those things that you must DO at the same time as you read through the tutorial.  When I was first taught this joining method many years ago, I wrote down the instructions as the teacher showed another student (she'd already showed me) so that I could refer back to it, which I did, for many many quilts.  It's not every day you bind a quilt, right?  Eventually it will become second nature to you I promise.

Notice the length of each tail of binding; there is a LOT. I've left a good 11" of each tail and I have about 18" open on the quilt. The pin is to show you that is the beginning tail end.

Overlap the end binding tail on top of the beginning. Note that pin.

Overlap the ends by the width of your binding; mine is 2 1/4".  Make a chalk mark at that 2 1/4" point on the end binding tail.

Either cut with scissors or use your 5X7 Olfa mat between the two bindings so only the top layer that you wish to cut rests on the mat, and cut on the chalk mark.

This is what you will have.

Orient the two tail ends as shown, end binding tail right side up and open, beginning binding tail also open but wrong side up.

Align those two ends as shown. You may have to scrunch up your quilt top in order to do so.  Place the 45-degree angle line on your 6X12" ruler along one straight edge so you get the cutting edge of the ruler on the diagonal oriented as I have it here.  Draw a line with your marker along that edge.

Either pin as shown here, or....

put some dots of glue on the line and press the two pieces together as I had them in the previous photo.  I have pulled back the one binding so you see the glue; you press them flat, right sides together as the previous photo.  Stitch on that line. I like to stitch one needle width to the inside of the line so the binding fits snug against the quilt top.

Before trimming the just-sewn seam, lay out the binding to be sure it is not twisted, and that it is the correct length.  THEN, trim the seams to 1/4" so you will have two little triangles of fabric left over...which can be paired with previous cut off binding triangles for use in minis, right?!

That ends the Joining the Binding Ends Tutorial.  Now follows Finishing Sewing Down the Binding.  You can do it, as I prefer to, by hand, but stitching it down by machine is just so fast, and durable, that I'm doing more and more this way.

I prefer applying my binding to the front of the quilt and stitching in the ditch on the front, catching the folded edge on the back with my stitching.  You can do it in reverse, applying the binding to the back, and topstitching it down on the front.  It's a personal preference.

Press the binding away from the quilt top

Fold it and press it again to the back of the quilt.  Let's take a closer look at mitres on the corners.

Press the binding down up to the corner and off the edge of the quilt, so binding folded on binding (this is clearer when you are doing it) and you will automatically form a 45-degree angle where it starts to go around the corner.  Fold the binding down over the next edge; you may have to finagle that fold a little so both folded edges meet as you see here.

Notice the difference from right side to the wrong side of the quilt at that corner:  the bulk of the folded corner is on the right here between my index and third fingers, and in the previous photo the bulk is to the left.  This means the corner bulk is evenly distributed and the corner will lie nice and flat.

After you've pressed the binding to the back all the way around (or you can do one side at a time), then put a tiny amount of glue on the quilt back inside the seams.  Less is more.  I find taking the time to iron first, apply glue, and then iron again, keeps my fingers cleaner!

Press that binding down, setting the glue.  Stitch by hand (see why less is more; it's hard to poke your needle through a glued fabric edge) or by machine.  I've hauled quilts around on car trips like this, binding by hand to pass the time and it is the GREATEST thing EVER! No pins, or clips get lost!

Stitch in the ditch from the front of the quilt using your walking foot.

Here you can see what the back is looking like, nicely caught by the ditch stitching.  You can also see how hand-sewn-down the front looks since the stitching disappears in that ditch.

There you have it!  I hope this helps newbies, or teaches some experienced quilters a new way of doing something or a new tip.  I started using glue not even 2 years ago, as I was pretty skeptical at first. Now I wouldn't have it any other way.

AND!!!!! Desire to Inspire Challenge Update!

The Henry Glass Fabrics fabric arrived at my daughter's house on the Michigan side of the Detroit River yesterday afternoon.  MacGyver hopped in the SUV and went over for a visit once she was home from work, and then brought it to our house on the Ontario side last night!  I waited until the sun was up this morning to take the photos to show you:

My package-eeep!

Fabric inspector, photo bomber, and quilt tester Bella takes a sniff

Lush colours, no?!  Those are fat quarters of woven plaids and two twill weaves!

 Now to put some of my ideas into fruition toute suite, or as my friend Lara, who also lives on a Great Lake, Ontario to be exact, of Buzzin'Bumble likes to write, 'toot sweet'.  :-)  Fabulous giveaway, not lake but sea-themed over on her blog until this weekend.

Remember my pattern is on sale until this weekend!  Just $5 will get you a copy here on Craftsy in my pattern store.  You can also be taken there through the My Pattern Store button on my sidebar. :-) After this weekend it will be $7.

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation.

Binding Tip

As promised here is what I do to bind a quilt.  Assumption:  You know how to measure the perimeter of your quilt, figure out how many strips you need, join these strips with a mitred seam, trimming to 1/4" and pressing those seams open to reduce bulk.  First, it is important to leave a good 6-8" tail loose when you start to sew down your binding.  Another good idea (voice of experience) is to pin your proposed starting point. Then run your binding all around your quilt, just matching it with your fingers, checking that no joined strips of binding will land at the corners, which would create too much bulk.  If necessary, back up or move ahead your proposed starting point of stitching the binding down.


The first seemingly tricky part is turning the corner to get a nice mitre.  First stitch to within 1/4" from the next edge.  I have wonderful lines on my walking foot to help me stop at the correct spot.  I like to sew off the edge at a 45-degree angle. I don't backstitch or break threads; once you stitch down the next side you will cross over your stitching, so that effectively locks it.

I don't usually pull the threads out this far! It was just to get a good photo.

Next I fold the binding back on itself at a 45-degree angle.

Try to get it so the raw edges all run straight; ahem, mine are going off at a bit of a slant!

Next, fold the binding once more back on top of itself, hiding that 45 angle.

Align the fold with the top raw edges, and the raw edges of the binding with the other raw edges of the next side of the quilt down which you are about to sew.  I still haven't cut threads you can see.  In the photo below, you can see how these folds create a little 3D double triangle.

Here you can see what it looks like after you've sewed down that next side.

and flipping it to the back so you see how the rather odd-looking corner turns into this little beauty.

All this is well and good and I had it down easy on my first quilt.  Having the final ends finished nicely did not get done very well until several years later when I took a sewing machine cover class at my LQS.  That instructor taught us how to do the clean method I have used ever since.  You end up with a mitred end that looks exactly like all your joined and mitred binding strips.

Lay the just-finished sewing end of binding on top of the 6-8" tail you left when you first started sewing.  Overlap the ends by the same width as your binding.  In my case, it's 2 1/4".  Because it is hard to see in the photo, I dropped a pin to mark the original cut at 90-degree angle binding edge.

Draw a line with a chalk marker a hair's breadth less than 2 1/4"; this makes for a snug final fit.  I sometimes use scissors to cut that chalk-marked line, but I usually use a little 6X8 Olfa mat between the edge needing to be cut and the rest of the quilt and cut with a rotary cutter for a nice crisp edge.

I usually just align the two cut ends as I do for joining the binding strips, but for this little tutorial, I marked the 45-degree with a ruler and my trusty Pentel fabric gel pen.  Thus, you can see how you are going to align these two ends...

I tried to show here how the just-cut binding stays horizontal, and the beginning end of the binding lies on top of and perpendicular to it.

Sew along the 45 angle.... lay it down before trimming your seams to check that it will fit...

Presto!  Again, you cannot see the seam very well, which is a great thing in real life, but not for this tutorial purposes, so I drew an arrow on the photo to help you find that seam.  Isn't that slick?  I do have another full tutorial on this under the Tips and Tutorials tab as well.

From here you'd turn your binding to the back of the quilt and hand or machine-stitch it down.  I prefer to hand-stitch it down, but I'm loving the speed of machine-stitching a binding down, but I'm not exactly loving the look....still working on it.  About a year ago, Judy of Quilt Paradigm sent me to Sharon Schamber's terrific binding tutorial using GLUE!! Yes!!! Try it, and be a convert like I am!  There are a couple parts to it, all worth watching.

Also, Tish of Tish's Adventures in Wonderland showed me another fantastic binding method which I have used twice now (didn't even think to use it on this quilt, duh!).  It is by Aunt Marti, and called Susie's Magic Binding.  Here is the video.  I personally found the blog version better.  She and I are going to have a conversation about the final step of applying binding.  I'm hoping she can provide some insight into a better machine-stitched down version.

Speaking of Tish!  Her adorable husband, David, is busy building (a more manly verb for piecing) Blue Skies but in a rectangle like Sunny Days:

Photo courtesy of Tish; he's so intense!

I am pinching myself to think that someone is making a pattern I designed!  Hope to release it this weekend!  Wiggle wiggle happy dance fist punch the air, say, "Yeah, baby!"  And if Brady is around, he'll either laugh, or most likely, as he does when his mother dances, roll his eyes and go, "Oh MAN! Nanaaaa!  Stop!"

Speaking of original designs and independent designers, I still have another May is for Makers post in the works. Stay tuned all you wonderful wimmin' (my friend Linda's joyful turn of phrase) and men!

Attaching a Continuous Binding Tutorial

I have got this stage of making a quilt down to a pretty exact science, gleaning bits and bats of several different instructors' methods over the years to make it my own.  First of all, I have to say, that Christa Watson, whose blog I've followed for the past 6 months recently posted the BEST tutorial I have seen on this, right here.  She does everything exactly as I do, except for the final seam,  However, the difference there is negligible, as in cut a 45 angle first or last.

I have wanted to write this for a long time, because I've seen so many that "mess up" the final seam so the binding is, in effect, NOT continuous.  Also the mitred corners get missed as far as stitching them, too.  Happily, Christa, a quilter of some renown, does this BEST method.  Yes, I'm on a soapbox.  Okay, cough, I'll get off now.
TONS of pics alert!

Step 1
Tip:  Choose a binding that not only goes with the front of your quilt, but also with the back.  I once had a constructive criticism from a quilt show (and I've only entered that same one a couple of times, so I don't have a lot of experience here) that my binding didn't go with the back of my quilt.  And it didn't.

Measure the length and width of your quilt.  Multiply each side by 2.  This is the perimeter.  Divide this number by 40.  Why 40?  Because most fabric is 42-44" wide and 40 allows for the seams allowances you will need to deduct when sewing the strips together.  And 40 is easy to divide by!  Most likely you will have an uneven number.  Round up.  This is the number of strips you need to cut.  Here is my figuring for "Hidden in Plaid Sight":