binding question

There is a well-known quilter who lives in this area whose quilts often win things and her 'trade mark' is her rounded corners. I have always been wary of trying them, in case it would look like imitation! but sometimes they might be just the thing. Anyone got any views on when a quilt would look good with rounded corners? . In article , "juliasb(nospam)" writes

I do binding sometimes with mitered corners and other times with straight corners. Much depends on the quilt and what it is I want to achieve. I am 'assuming that mitering the corners is the more preferred way, but is it really considered 'wrong' to do a straight binding? Any thoughts are welcome. What do others do with the corners? Rounded corners are no problem for me...but maybe for others... juliasb

When I do straight corners, I usually trim some of the excess material after sewing the binding on. As I normally sew the binding down by hand, it is easy enought to throw a few stiches in to 'close the gap.'

If any one notices them, they haven't told me. I like to think my quilts are wonderful enough that they aren't looking too closely at the details.

lisae

Patti wrote:

There are some in a book on borders and bindings that I have, and they are lovely.

I always measure to be sure that doesn't happen. You can always adjust where you start attaching the binding.

You're so right! Unfortunately, I usually don't think about that until I run into the problem -- and why does it always happen on the *last* corner instead of the first?

This is how I do mine.

Lorraine

Howdy! To get those squared corners flatter, snip out some of the batting in the inside layer; you can also snip away a bit of the fabric from that inside layer, as long as the outside layer covers it and has batting in it. This can also be done on mitered corners, of course. Cuts down the bulk while still filling the binding.

I have a question for all you experienced quilters. I saw a quilt with a binding that appears to be one entire strip. As closely as I examined the quilt, I could not see any areas where the binding had been cut or stitched on the corners. How did that quilter make the binding?

kaila

Kaila, It could be one of many things:

1. you missed seeing at least one seam-sometimes they can be very difficult to spot!
2. the quilter brought the backing around to the front to form a binding.
3. She cut the binding from the length of the fabric rather than the width. (i.e.. a 3 yard piece of fabric would yield a 3yd continuous piece of binding) BUT, there would have to be a seam somewhere in that, too.
4. Perhaps he or she somehow hid the seams in the mitered corners. I *think* I've seen a technique like this on an old Simply Quilts, but at this late hour, I can't quite remember!

I'm sure others will have thoughts about this too.

In article , The Brown Family writes

This is a great thread - I am just about to bind a quilt for the first time (I have always birthed them before) and I'm getting really stressed about it. Just ask LN, I was picking her brains about it at length last night! If anyone else has any really essential tips for binding, could they please post them in the next 12 hours, because that's when I plan to do it. It would be really annoying if I mess up badly and then someone posts the tip that would have solved the problem the day afterwards.

Mitered for me! I found the instructions in Harriet Hargrave's books to be the best. A bit hard to understand, maybe, but in the end, the bindings are absolutely the nicest looking.

I never even thought of rounded corners! That would be excellant if adding separate binding :) I will have to try that on one of my quilts.

-- Kathy in CA Quilting Stuff:

Some of the "Quilt in a Day" books also have good instructions for doing the mitered corner. However, they don't tell you to use a diagonal seam for sewing the strips together. I don't like the way they finish binding where the ends meet. I like to have a diagonal seam there, too, though that does get a little tricky.

Julia > Mitered for me! I found the instructions in Harriet Hargrave's books to

If you do rounded corners, be sure to cut your binding on the bias. I used to do rounded corners on the prequilted panels I finished to display at the store, a lot faster to do. But I also used prepackaged bias binding for them. Now I find that for straight sides and corners I can cut the binding on the cross grain and it takes a lot less fabric, and fewer seams usually, and the mitered corners are so easy to do.

Pati, > I never even thought of rounded corners! That would be excellant if adding