- Help for Quilters!
Quilt Binding and the Mitered Corner
Now that you have completed quilting your pieced top whether by hand or machine, there is only one step remaining - binding the edge. Don't wait for a good fairy to appear to do that for you, you CAN do this yourself, so here we go. I like a French-fold binding that is about 3/8 inch wide when completed.
Needed:
- Quilted article
Thread to match binding
Fabric for binding
Even feed foot or walking foot
Acrylic ruler
Rotary cutter
Cutting mat
First cut 2 1/4 inch strips of fabric either cross grain or straight of grain (Remember we discussed "grain" in an earlier article.) Measure the distance around the quilt and cut enough strips that when sewn together will more than cover the distance. I cut an extra strip or two so that I have plenty of binding.
Sew the strips together at right angles, trim excess. Fold the binding over, right sides out and press the entire length.
Trim the edges of the quilt using your long acrylic ruler on the cutting mat, being sure the corners are trimmed square. Watch that the top, the batting, and the back are trimmed evenly. It is easy to get folds in that bottom fabric that will cause an uneven trim.
An even feed foot or walking foot will move both layers of the binding and the quilt smoothly under the needle of the sewing machine.
Starting in the middle of any side, lay the binding on the quilt edge, raw edges even. Estimate if any of the seams in your binding will come out at the corners and move the binding so that this does not occur. Use a 1/4 inch seam, or the width of your pressure foot.
Before I begin to stitch, I open the beginning edge of the binding and fold back a 45 degree angle and sew that down to the quilt edge. Then lifting the needle, I lay the fold back in place, move the quilt and binding forward about 4 inches and begin to sew the binding in place.
It is important not to pull on either the quilt or the binding
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