Submitted by Liz M.
In November 2019, I wrote about my works in progress (WIP). At that time, I had 8 completed tops that I pulled out of my sewing room closet. I began to organize my many partially finished projects and committed to working on something each week. Steady progress was made towards working on something weekly.
Covid 19 stay-at-home orders brought more time to explore the tubs of fabric and projects in my sewing room. I completed 4 more tops to add to the pile! I shared the pile of tops with my husband and he asked “what do you need to finish them?” They needed batting, backing and quilting. He encouraged me to send them out to be quilted. I chose 4 tops and made the backings, ordered batting and delivered them to Jacque (an MPS member and part of my small group). She quilted them beautifully on her long arm and they have been waiting for binding. The bindings are all cut and ready to be applied. I finished one binding by hand and then got side-tracked again with a baby quilt, a cross-stitch finish and a few more masks.
Jacque and I discussed binding techniques and she recommended using glue instead of pins to hold the binding in place to hand sew the binding to the back. I have been doing machine sewn binding on charity quilts and baby quilts and I am getting better. My plan is to try a different technique on the three remaining quilts. My corners can use some work to be flatter with good miters on both sides.
I have found several videos and blogs with tutorials on methods for binding and they are listed below. Do you hand or machine stitch your bindings? Single or double fold binding? Straight of grain or bias? What’s your best tip for binding? Please share in the comments.
ZigZag Stitched BindingGlue Basting 1
Perfect Straight BindingGlue Basting 2
Susie’s Magic BindingGwen Marston Single-Fold Binding (Starts around minute 43)Patrick Lose Corner Hint
I typically do a double fold binding and hand stitch it down on the back. Finishing a binding is one of the most fulfilling parts of quilting!
Liz – Thanks for the list of possible tutorials for binding. I used to bind with zigzag and then got out of the habit. As with any skill, one has to practice to improve.
Great work Liz. Want to post photos?
Dianne, You have been very productive in meeting your goal. Thank you for the references. I love hand sewing so binding my quilt my hand is the ‘treat’ I look forward to as the final step.
Linda, this post was actually submitted by Liz. And she has been very productive! I failed to give her the proper credit in the beginning.
I also do double fold binding and hand stitch on the back. On my next quilt, though, I’m going to try single fold binding after hearing more about it recently. Congratulations on your progress with UFOs, Dianne!
Dawn, Liz actually submitted this post, but I forgot to give her credit for it. I still like hand-tacking my binding, and I have two quilts packed up to do just that while we’re gone next week. But this time, I’m giving the single-fold binding a try.
I typically do a double fold binding I hand stitch down. I also use a facing on smaller art type quilts. I’m going to check out your posted resources. Thanks.