Here it is! After working on it on-and-off for almost a year, the Christmas quilt is finally hanging on the wall in our living room. You can't tell from this photo, but there is a lot of hand-sewn ricrac, beading, and trim on this quilt. It is really adorable!
Besides just plain bragging, I wanted to share how I sewed the binding. In my never-ending quest to rid the world of hand stitching, I played with using a straight blanket stitch to sew the binding. It really looks great from the front. The back . . . not so nice in places. But, since this is my first attempt, I plan to try to perfect that skill.
Here's how I did it. The first several steps follow the instruction in Laura Heine's Color Fusion. The only thing I tweaked was how I stitched down the binding on the front of the quilt.
Besides just plain bragging, I wanted to share how I sewed the binding. In my never-ending quest to rid the world of hand stitching, I played with using a straight blanket stitch to sew the binding. It really looks great from the front. The back . . . not so nice in places. But, since this is my first attempt, I plan to try to perfect that skill.
Here's how I did it. The first several steps follow the instruction in Laura Heine's Color Fusion. The only thing I tweaked was how I stitched down the binding on the front of the quilt.
Step 1: Cut binding strips from your binding fabric. In this case, I cut my strips 2-inches wide. Step 2: Sew the strips end-to-end, using an angled stitch, so the binding isn't too bulky when folded on the quilt. You can see the angled seam in this photo. Step 3: Press along one long edge of the binding, folding the fabric over 1/4 inch. Step 4: Sew the binding to the back of the quilt, right sides together, edges even, using a scant 1/4-inch seam allowance. Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of how I sew the corners. But, the instructions at the Happy Feet Binding blog post are very similar, so see steps 6 and 7 in that tutorial, if you have never sewn binding this way before. Step 5: Fold the binding around the end of the quilt, so the folded edge just covers the stitching on the top side of the quilt. Carefully fold the corners on top and bottom, making a perfect 45-degree angle with the fold in the corner. Press and Pin . . . or, Pin and Press :) |
Step 6: From the top side of the quilt, using a straight blanket stitch, stitch along the top of the quilt, right at the edge of the binding. For the straight stitches, do not catch the binding in the stitch. Only catch the binding when the blanket stitch jumps to the side. This will be somewhat like stitching in the ditch, except when the blanket stitch jumps over and catches the folded edge of the binding.
In the picture on the left, the needle is just catching the folded edge of the binding in the blanket stitch.
When you get to the corner, simply pivot and continue down the next side of the quilt. I went back later and hand-stitched the folds in the corners of the binding. Since I have an aversion to hand-stitching, I'll have to think about whether that is necessary for future projects.
In the picture on the left, the needle is just catching the folded edge of the binding in the blanket stitch.
When you get to the corner, simply pivot and continue down the next side of the quilt. I went back later and hand-stitched the folds in the corners of the binding. Since I have an aversion to hand-stitching, I'll have to think about whether that is necessary for future projects.
Here is a close-up of the front of the quilt. You can see how the straight stitching along the edge of the binding nearly disappears, with only the blanket stitch visible. I like this stitch because it looks a bit like a hand stitch, without the monotonous hand stitching! |
I hope this helps you in your endeavors at quick-and-dirty quilting!