Bind It! Irresistible Charm 9-Patch Sashed Binding Part 3
July 02, 2009 | By
In the last installment of QuiltPossible!, we stitched the binding most of the way around the quilt, stitching all four corners with a mitered corner (or at least the start of one.) Now it is time to attach the start and end points and finish this darling little quilt!
Step 1
Take the quilt to your cutting surface and lay the quilt flat on the table. On the edge where the two loose ends of the binding are, lay the binding so that it overlaps, with the starting tail of your binding on the bottom. Place a ruler on this overlap so that you have measured out the full width of the binding (in this case, 2.5".) Take a chalk marker (or some other marking instrument) and draw a straight line at the 2.5" mark.
Step 2
Pull out this long tail onto your cutting surfaces, and lay your ruler next to the line you drew at the 2.5" mark. Cut off the excess binding tail. You should now have 2 binding ends that overlap each other by 2.5".
Step 3
These next few steps will be a little bit fiddly. Please don't give up! When you get the hang of this (and you are probably going to mess this up the first time - I know I did) you will love this technique forever and ever, I promise, and the results are more than worth it. If you are worried about messing up, do not cut anything else until you are sure you have it right, and use a very long stitch to baste things in place until you get the hang of it. I also apologize in advance to any left-handed quilters - this is definitely geared toward the right-handed bunch!
Ok, let's begin. With the unfinished edge of the quilt toward you, and the binding tails closest to you, take the left binding tail and fold it up (pointing away from you) as shown. The angle is not important, just the direction of the fold.
Step 4
With the left tail still in this position, grab the bottom half of the folded binding, and open it out so that the binding is laying flat, open, with the right side up. Again, the angle isn't important, just make sure you have preserved that first fold upward. Your binding will look like it has a kink in it.
Step 5
With the right binding tail, lift the top half of the folded binding, and open it so that the binding is laying flat, open, with the right side down. Once again, the angle is not important - just remember this side does not have a twist in it.
Step 6
This is one of the fiddly parts! Bring the right sides together of these two pieces, so that they form a square at the ends. You will probably need to fold some of the quilt out of the way to get these two pieces to meet. You are basically joining these ends just as you did when making the continuous binding, except there won't be a "fudge" factor on the ends. They need to line up exactly. If you are not able to do this easily, take out some stitches of the binding to free up some length and give you more room to work.
This is an occasion where it definitely helps to have a smaller ruler, as it may not be very easy to use a larger one in this space. What you need to be able to do is get the ruler situated so that you can mark a line, from corner to corner, along the 45° diagonal where these two pieces meet.
Mark a line here, and then pin the two ends to keep them aligned while you head back to your sewing machine.
Step 7
Stitch along the line that you marked on the binding. Again, you may need to fold the quilt in a way that helps you maneuver this underneath the machine. If you are unsure whether you did the folding and pinning correctly, lengthen your stitch to a basting length and stitch along this line.
Step 8
Once you have stitched this line, remove the quilt from the machine. Let the binding relax so that the binding tries to lay flat. You should see the top and bottom edge now in a straight connected line, which would lay perfectly flat if those pesky triangles weren't in the way.
If on the other hand, your binding seems twisted, take out the basting stitches and go back to step 3. This is the part where, as long as you haven't cut anything off, you can start over and try again.
If you are satisfied that you have done this correctly, shorten your stitch length and go back over the basting stitches.
Step 9
Just as you did with the initial binding strips, lay the binding as flat as you can, align your ruler's ¼" mark along your seam line, and cut off the triangle (original binding picture used for reference.)
Step 10
Press the seam open, and see your continuous binding come to life! Now take this back to the machine and finish stitching the binding edge to the quilt.
Step 11
To finish stitching the binding, I prefer to hand-stitch the binding to the back of the quilt. Working from the back of the quilt, fold the binding over the edge, and using your seam as a guide (where the binding was attached) stitch the edge down with a hidden stitch, being sure to cover the seam line.
As you come to the corners, stitch all the way to the end, As you fold over the next side, you will see the mitered corner form. You may need to adjust it a little bit, but you should be able to fold it so that the miter on the front looks exactly the same on the back (as in the pictures.) In this example I have stitched by machine, but I will show you that technique in another series!
Are you happy with your finished product? You should be very proud of yourself!
This is the end of the QuiltPossible! Irresistible Charm series. Did you miss an earlier installment of QuiltPossible! in this series? Catch up here!
Feature Article: QuiltPossible! Irresistible Charm
Piece It!: Irresistible Charm Block Styles
Piece It!: Irresistible Charm Construction Techniques
Piece It!: Irresistible Charm Fabric Squaring for Cutting
Try It!: Irresistible Charm 9-Patch Sashed
Try It! Irresistible Charm 9-Patch Sashed Borders
Try It! Irresistible Charm 9-Patch Sashed Backing
Try It!: Irresistible Charm 9-Patch Sashed Pin Basting
Try It! Irresistible Charm 9-Patch Sashed Quilting
Bind It! Irresistible Charm 9-Patch Sashed Binding Part 1
Bind It! Irresistible Charm 9-Patch Sashed Binding Part 2
Photo Credits:
All Photos by Ebony Love
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Each QuiltPossible! series includes:
Feature Article: Serves as the introduction to the series, and explores the origins, history, and modern evolution of the quilt style to be featured.
Piece It!: Provides more detail of a particular block within that series and recommended construction techniques; there may be more than one Piece It! within the series.
Switch It!: Demonstrates variations of a block within that series; different shapes, color ways, and other options to explore beyond the basic techniques.
Try It!: Offers tutorials of specific projects utilizing the blocks featured in Switch It! Projects are not limited to quilts, and will be geared toward beginning and intermediate crafters.
Bind It!: Presents a variety of finishing techniques (bindings, embellishments, labels, etc.) to add spice and personality to your QuiltPossible! projects.
Feature articles are typically published once per month, with subsequent articles published every Monday and Thursday.
Ebony is an avid quilter & crafter in the greater Chicago area, and you can see her work via her online portal at LoveBug Studios.
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