Design Wall Monday: Sept 28, 2015

Whoa! I actually have a DWM post. It's not on the design wall but in my lap since I'm stitching on the binding. And, yes, I do my own machine quilting. Once I have it on, I'll show you the front. It is only a flannel jelly roll race, so it's nothing special.

Do you like my make-do binding clips?

I'm going to link with Judy's Design Wall Monday linky party.

Binding

I use my version of the red binding clips when I stitch down a binding.

Machine Binding Without Pins Tutorial

I almost forgot that I promised a tutorial on binding a quilt totally by machine without using pins. Are you ready?

First, stitch the binding onto the FRONT of the quilt. Yes, I know this is contrary to the conventional way, but this is a not very conventional binding method.

After you have the binding sewn onto the FRONT, mitering the corners, trim your quilt.

Next you need some of this thread. I love this stuff. Wind a bobbin with it and insert it into your machine.

Make sure you have your zig-zag foot and sole plate on your machine.

Pick a wide enough zig-zag so you go off the edge of the quilt, but you stay away from the stitching line where you attached the binding. Zig-zag all the way around the quilt using normal thread on top but the fusible thread in the bobbin. Okay, break time. Go get a drink of your favorite beverage and relax those tense neck and shoulder muscles.

Are you back? Here's what the back side of the quilt edge will look like.

All right, you need to take the quilt over to your ironing surface. Tautly pull the binding around to the back side of the quilt. covering zig-zaged fusible thread AND the straight stitching line and following the settings of the thread, iron/fuse the binding down. I usually have my iron set to COOK and it seems to work all right.

Go get another drink. That was a lot of hot work.

It's time for the next to the last step. This one is extremely important: CHANGE YOUR BOBBIN. Take that fusible thread out of the bobbin casing and put in a thread that matches the binding.

Last step. I have a Bernina and use my #5 foot that has the edge stitch on it. My machine settings are just a normal straight stitch. Turn your quilt so that the top is up and then stitch in the ditch at the binding to stitch down the binding on the back. If you did a good job in the ironing/fusing step, there should be no skippers and the binding should be caught all the way around.

If you cut a 2.5" binding and fold it in half and do this technique, be aware that you will have a bit of a flange on the backside. I like to cut my binding at 2.25" and then fold in half. The stitching just barely catches the edge of the binding on back and I think it looks much nicer. This is a wonderful way to machine stitch a binding onto donation quilts that will see a lot of machine washing. YMMV.

Practice, Practice

JudyL's (Patchwork Times) method of machine stitching binding onto a quilt has fascinated me. BUT. I don't ever, ever sew over pins with my Bernina 'cause if you hit one the results are not nice. What to do? I uncovered and dusted off (literally!) the old Singer treadle sewing machine.

I love this machine. It makes such a perfect, beautiful straight stitch. And if I sew over and accidentally hit a pin, the workings of the machine are simple and easy to get to so even I can fix it. There are a few rules of engagement, though, when working with a treadle.

1. Use a straight legged chair. No office chairs with rollers. That is, unless you just want to roll around and not really sew *smile*.
2. Wear shoes. Preferably athletic shoes, because the sole sticks just a bit to the treadle.

So here I was, treadling away on the bindings of two different small quilts. On the first one, I put the pins too far apart and pinned from the top side. Not good. I found out that pinning closer together is a key point in this technique, so on the second quilt I pinned about every inch. I also found that if I pinned from the back side the whole thing laid flatter on the machine bed. On the first quilt, there were a lot of places where I veered off the binding on the back which resulted in having to go back in and hand stitch it down in places. On the second quilt, the closer pinning worked and there were fewer 'skips'. But there are still issues with the second quilt.

This is just going to be a matter of practice. Lots of practice.

Quilt Edgings Part 2

So, do you know what I did with this edging? Yes, it is a standard double fold binding, but before stitching it on I inserted a bit of rick rack to give the bound edge just a bit of embellishment. Cute, huh?

This next one is just as simple. After the quilt was completely bound using the same fabric as the last border, I went back and added an embroidered stem stitch in red all the way around it.

There. Now you have four different ways to finish off a quilt that is not the same old binding.

Quilt Edgings Part 1

Do you always use binding on your quilts? Have you ever tried something different? I have tried several different things. This post starts with 2 of the easier ones. The first photo is my old standby utility quilt. Instead of binding, I pulled the backing over to the front. I cut the batting to be the same width (2.5") as the logs in the log cabin and then cut the backing 3" to give myself enough to bring to the front and a seam allowance to fold under.

This next image is another treatment that I tried. I liked it so much I did it on another quilt too. It gives a very feminine touch to a quilt. This is purchased eyelet lace that has been basted to the top by matching the upper edge of the eyelet to the outer edge of the quilt top. Since the plan was to tie this quilt, I layered the batting, then the quilt top right side up, then the backing right side down and stitched around the outside edge leaving an opening to turn it right side out. Once that was done, I slip-stitched the opening closed and tied the quilt. It is a nice finish and easy to do.