binding

Good for you, G2b! A home made binding is the perfect finishing touch to a quilt made with love. You are almost finished and are approaching the step that I did yesterday on the Queen Size Double Irish Chain, the quilt that has taken over my Life!! So, this is fresh in my mind.

Before you cut any thing, go ahead and turn and pin what you have. Is it smooth? Is it even and full? Good! Does it torque or pull? Does the binding feel empty in places? NOT good. If it is good, then pin and sew as is. If it pulls, then you need to trim the batting a bit. If it feels a bit empty, you need less binding or more batting, whichever is easier.

PAT in VA/USA

Maybe you need to trim. How much you trim is another story. Do you sew the binding down by hand or by machine?

Fold some of the binding over, just like you are going to sew it. Does the binding cover it all? If so and you like it, trim the excess only to be consistent around the quilt. Then, sew the binding down.

Sorry to come up with such a "maybe" answer--but there are other questions to think about like: How wide is your binding? Double or single? Is your batting poly, cotton, wool.

Let us know how it turns out and share pictures.

Congratulations on finishing the quilt and for waiting for the baby!

Happy quilting,

Lenore

Howdy!

Trimming the quilt sandwich doesn't have to be a guessing game. Trim. Learn how to square up the quilt and trim the excess:

I like the way Eleanor Burns does this: at 2:20 she shows how she trims the excess,after she's sewn the binding to one side. Then the binding goes on muchmore easily, is properly filled, lies flat. I square the quilt on the table, measuring carefully thru' the center atseveral points; then I sew a 1/4" seam around the entire quilt; add thebinding, Finished. There are some things that are just easier to learn "the right way", makes the following quilts simpler to Finish. Good luck!

R/Sandy

Thanks so much Pat, Lenore and Sandy for all your help.