Adventures in Machine Binding

I used several suggestions from you, dear readers, to do this machine binding on the Quick Quilt.   This time, I sewed the binding onto the back, then turned it to the front.  I did use some pins to make the miters on the corners, and few to hold the binding down as it was being sewn.

I used a zigzag stitch, and made a couple of adjustments to the stitch length and width.

Looks OK on the front.

I am still not happy with the way this turned out on the back.  Part is on the binding, part isn’t, and what happened to the stitches on the corner?  Ugh.  Sloppy.

Every corner had a problem.  Maybe I am just picky, but I just don’t like this.  Still, done is good.

Thinking about the other quilts I had ready to deliver, I thought I’d better go back and do a line of machine stitching on their bindings since I did them my usual way.  I don’t want them rejected because of the machine binding rule.

These are the Winnie the Pooh directional print  and Non-Directional Print quilts.  I simply ran a line of stitching down the binding, using the left side of the foot along the ditch line for consistency.  These kid quilts will go to Mainstay in Hendersonville.

You know, this isn’t so bad!

Yes, it is an extra step.  But, I get to do the binding the way I like, have handwork for the TV, and the single line of machine stitching doesn’t look out of place or sloppy on either side.

So, I delivered those.  Then, at the last meeting last week, I was given a little panel along with batting and backing to do before the next meeting in December. Yes, I volunteered because it would go fast. So I loaded it on the machine and put a simple freehand loop design on it. I leave spots to go between previous lines of quilting so it won’t look like rows of loops.

I was careful to only quilt on the top panel, so I could cut away the binding with scissors leaving the backing intact.  This is the same method I used to bind the Fidget Quilts for Alzheimer’s Patients.

Then I trimmed the backing to 1-1/2 inches all around.

I folded one side twice, first to meet the quilt edge, then over the edge.

Fold the corner down perpendicular to the side forming an angle on the corner.

Then fold the adjacent side down to meet the edge of the quilt.

Then fold over one more time to enclose the raw edges and form a nice miter on the corner. Pin.

Repeat for all four corners.

Now, just press the side folds so you don’t have to pin them all around.

Sew close to the edge on the top.

Done in a flash, and there is nothing to line up on the back so it looks good.

Pros of this method – 1) super fast, 2) neat on the back
Cons – 1) It would be easy to nip the backing fabric unless you are very careful cutting away the batting. 2) It may not be as sturdy with only one layer of fabric on the edge, unless you can get the raw edge tucked behind by not quilting up to the very edge.

I still prefer my method – see the four part series on binding under Quilting Basics.  Or start with Making Bias Binding and follow the links to the next step at the end of each post.  If the charities didn’t require the binding be machine sewn, I wouldn’t do it this way.  But since they do, I have to find a way that is pleasing to me, neat on the back and follows the requirements.

Laura sent me a link to another idea, Piped Binding at Quilt Fabrication.  I’d use my own method for joining the binding ends, but this looks like it might work well.  Then Sam showed me her flanged binding at quilt club.  Amazingly, just two days after I published this post, my friend Karen over at Karen’s Quilts and Crows posted a step by step tutorial on the piped method with really good step pictures – Mitered and Flanged Binding Tutorial.

I am going to try both ideas, flange and piped, but not for a while.  I have lots of holiday projects in the works and another charity quilt to load and quilt for a dear friend.

What are you working on?

 

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