Like all my quilting ways and means, this is the shortest route to the end.
1. When you're finished quilting, trim the extra batting to be even with the quilt top. Be careful with the scissors so you don't cut through the backing (ask me how I know). Then trim the backing so that there's approximately an inch of margin. Look at my inch. It's not exact or even--it's actually ragged, but it's close enough for this approach.
2. When all is trimmed, fold the back in so that the raw edge meets the edge of the quilted top. Then fold that folded edge in over the quilt. Now everything is tidy and nice. Pin it in place. Do the whole side.
3. All that's left to do is to slip stitch the folded edge in place. Slip stitching is practically invisible and is very easy to do with a little practice. See how the needle travels under the binding, but not so far down that it pierces through the back, then comes up again very close to the folded edge. Then it goes into the quilt just a tiny tiny bit, so that the stitch hardly shows. (Feel free to google some better instructions!).
I treat the corners quite simply--I go down one whole side, then turn the quilt and go the next way. I don't mitre or do anything fancy.
And that is the Unambitious Quilter's guide to binding!
You are my kind of quilter!!
ReplyDeleteAnd you've inspired me to make my first quilt! Thank you so much for showing how it can be done quickly and easily...2 of my main goals for anything I do in life = )
How bout a running update? Any spring races on your calendar???
Pony
Thank you so much for posting this. I'm now much more confident about finishing the quilt that's been lying around for so long.
ReplyDeleteI'd never even thought of using the backing to bind a quilt; I've always cut binding strips, joined them, sewed them on, then hand-sewed them down--and it takes forever! I have a quilt waiting to be finished, and I'm going to try your method instead. Thanks for posting this!
ReplyDeleteI really like how easy and pretty it looks.
ReplyDeleteHow do your get so many scraps of fabric to make your quilts? Is it a lifetime-worth of buying fabric for clothes? I think I shall spend the summer making a quilt and hopefully it will be ready and warm by the time winter sets in...
ReplyDeleteI like your blue quilt the best.
yours,
Rebecca
I'm not sure that you, in fairness, could ever be called "unambitious"! :)
ReplyDeleteI would love to work on some more quilting. You've inspired me to try another. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anna - I've been wondering about this part of it. But for Giles' quilt, I think you said you made a strip of scrap fabric to bind it with - so, is that method also done by hand?
ReplyDeleteMarvellous - and right up my street! I was thinking of doing something like this for a quilt I'm working on, so thanks for the confirmation :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, now I feel like I can do it -- was dreading the binding!
ReplyDeleteThat's how my grandma does almost all of hers. Her grandma taught her to do it that way too. :)
ReplyDeleteI really, really like your style!
ReplyDeleteThat's the way I do it. Usually by the time I get a quilt to that stage I'm just ready for it to be done so I can look at it and sigh. But, really, I think it blends the backing into the front of the quilt for a more seamless project. That's how I justify it anyway - good job!!
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to make a quilt. Maybe one of these days, I'll try it.
ReplyDeleteI'm about to (in the sense that I've been about-to for over a year, but now I really mean business, lol) cut down a quilt (Lands End, nothing vintage) that is too big now that we've stopped using our Victorian reproduction bed, and this is very timely! Any chance you could post a pic of a corner, front and back would be great? My mother used to crank out quilts the way you do and I never got lessons from her and now I'm winging it it, so I appreciate your posts so much!
ReplyDeleteThat's how I've done binding on the baby quilts I've done and it's tremendously easy. Now I need to learn how to piece.
ReplyDeleteI am in the process of making a binding just like that on my little lap quilt. I'm so pleased we're doing the same thing!!
ReplyDeleteHey...I'm so glad to have validation that this is an acceptable way to bind!
ReplyDeleteLike Thirkellgirl, I too would love to see a picture of a corner and the way it looks in the back. This method seems so much easier, I just may start a quilt soon!
ReplyDeleteOHHH! Now I see!
ReplyDeletethanks sweet Anna!
Kimmie
mama to 7
one homemade and 5 adopted
Nice tips there, thanks for posting. I will try this way when i make my next quilt!
ReplyDeletethanks anna!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to know what the "unambitious quilter" recommends for batting!
(I'm willing to try my first quilt, too!)
smart! I might try that next time!
ReplyDeleteA dear friend who taught how to hand quilt also taught me how to do a more traditional binding. So this is for you, Lisateresa:
1. cut 3-4" wide strips (I don't bother to make them bias). Sew together to equal perimeter of quilt.
2. On right side of quilt, with right side of binding down, machine sew one side of the binding the whole way around the quilt so that when you fold it around to the back, no stitches are showing.
3. On the back, fold under the raw edge (can iron it down before you sew on if you remember) and do the little hidden stitch that Anna described.
Good luck!
This definately makes sense :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing...now finishing a quilt is not so daunting.
blessings,
Lady M
Thanks, Margo! It will be a while before I get to that stage - haha. But I'm collecting fabric; it's progressing!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting about your scrap quilts, I quit quilting because I didn't have time to do all that fancy stuff. I may just take it up again the proper way, just like our great grandmothers did. Thank you,
ReplyDeleteMelissa
Instead of hand-sewing the binding, I would just machine topstitch in contrasting thread to really make it unambitious. I would, however, mitre to overcome guilt :P
ReplyDeleteOh thankyou, that to me was the scariest part.
ReplyDeletethankyou - you were just what i was looking for xx
ReplyDeleteNot to be too negative but this method of binding does not last very long and wears out quickly. After putting so much work and money into a quilt, why skimp on the binding??
ReplyDeleteI just used this technique today! Thanks for posting instructions, it is so much easier than using binding strips. Used my machine instead of slip stitching. Worked great!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm a gay atheist but I love you now! Thank you so much for this common sense way to bind a quilt by hand.
ReplyDelete