Friday, June 22, 2007

I Spy binding

Finally! I had hoped to have this in the mail this week, but with overnight guests, working, getting ready for vacation, and a bit of laziness on my part, I didn't get the binding on my I Spy. Didn't even work on any other quilting projects. This morning I read the Calico Cat's blog and she was discussing whether or not to trim the batting and backing before stitching on the binding. I was taught not to trim, did that once (my first quilt) and then never again. But I got thinking about it after I read her post and decided to try one more time to attach the binding before trimming. It was great! No worries about whether I was catching the backing, whether there would be enough fabric at the corners, etc. I think I'll do it this way from now on!

I also do mitered corners it what I have discovered is an uncommon way -- I stitch them in as I go.I learned this method from Sharon Pederson shortly after I started quilting. It's easy and since you begin and end at a corner, you don't have to do that tricky bit to get the binding ends to meet in the middle. It looks good when it's done, too. Directions are in both of her reversible quilts books, although she says it's not her discovery, just a method she was taught years ago.

7 comments:

Quilting Pirate said...

I haven't tried that technique either, but I might have to test it out! Your binding looks great!

Elaine Adair said...

Hey, I do some of mine that way too -- recently did a diamond edge quilt, and used that little 'binding tool' with several marks on the edge for 90, 60 degrees, etc. Works like a charm.

Shelina said...

I trim my quilts before I put the binding on. That way I know the binding will be nice and flat and exactly where I want it to be. I hadn't seen that method of doing the corners. I generally sew towards the point to make the miter. I'm not sure I quite understand how you do that, but I think I could practice on something and see what happens!

floribunda said...

I trim or not depending on my mood, and whether I'm sewing the binding onto the front or the back (for kid quilts and charity quilts I often sew the binding onto the vback and then zigzag it down on the front). Your corner method is definitely worth exploring... and I think I once had a dress made out of that green with black dots!

Rose Marie said...

What a great idea for mitering the corners! I struggle with the corners with every quilt I do. Sometimes they come out nice and others ..... oops. I always trim first before putting on my binding but leave 1/4" - 1/2" all around and never have any problem.

Helen said...

Is that double-fold binding? I've never seen that before. Your corner looks great.

Jenni said...

That's an interesting way to do the corner - it looks very neat.