Machine Binding

This entry is not for the die-hard purist in you; this is a practical solution to the problem of binding a gift quilt.  First of all, for all my love of hand piecing, embroidery, crewel, etc, I do not enjoy hand-sewing binding on my quilts.  I am not a fast sewer, I try to be meticulous, and I loathe it.  So when I read an article that mentioned machine binding both the front and the back of a quilt, I knew I had to try it.

This past year, I attempted machine binding on several pieces.  It wasn't very successful for a number of reasons.  I gave it up.  Then recently I came across another article in which machine binding was the focus, and the author actually described what she did.  Lights went on again! 

 

Remember the three quilts I made for the greats?  It took two days to square up the quilt (cut all the excess batting and material away in such a manner that the edges were straight and the corners right angles), cut the binding strips and sew them together, iron the binding, pin it on the quilt, and sew.   But I did it, and at the end of the two days the quilt is officially finished (well, except for the label - but that's easy).  As you look at the pictures, remember this quilt is for a child.

 

Machine stitch the binding on the back of the quilt using a regular running stitch, fold it over to the front, and sew the front of the binding (usually with a running stitch close to the edge of the binding where it meets the quilt).  The author of the article suggested using the decorative stitches on our machines especially for children's quilts. 

 

This stitch looks like waves to me.  You'll notice that the entire pattern stitch is on the solid black binding.  It is wide enough to hold the edges down, and I didn't want the stitch to get lost in among the fish.  The variegated thread makes it stand by itself.  I don't think I'd use something this busy on many quilts, but I thought this one could handle it. 

 

Here's the first corner (sorry it's so blurry) on the lower right of the photo.  I learned that even with an even-feed foot my machine could not deal with the added bulk of the mitered corner.  This one will be taken out, trust me.

 

The second corner and then all others were sewn like this.  I'd get about a half-inch away from the corner, use the "needle down" feature, change the mode of my machine from embroidery stitches to a straight stitch, sew the corner, and the reverse the procedure.  It will take some practice to make this better (catching the embroidery stitch at just the right point and making sure the fold over of the miter is properly caught isn't as easy as you might think).

   

A final view of the corner with the squared off method I used. 

 

I've already decided on the stitch I'll use on the two fairy quilts, and for the first time, I'm actually looking forward to sewing on a binding.  Embroidery stitches aren't a requirement; a running stitch in a color matching or slightly darker than your binding will work very well. 

 

With my king size quilts this will make me positively euphoric!