Pat..ribbon as binding

It was just an idea for a special quilt that Edna is making with satins and silks and such. She asked whether using commercial bias binding would be OK. I had used satin ribbon for one of my first quilts and thought that would be a better idea for the specific quilt she was making. It does mean that you don't have to do any turning under, as both edges are 'finished'. Because of the fabrics used for the quilt, it was clearly not going to be washed a lot - certainly not in a machine

- so the ribbon would be fine for the same 'wear'. I don't suppose it would be generally an alternative for your cotton quilts. Most ribbon is polyester of some sort these days (apart from the velvets which I don't know about). Also, if it were put onto a cotton quilt with batting, the ribbon would not shrink when washed and the rest of the quilt would - not a good look. No, the answer to Edna was for her specific satiny quilt. . In message , Joanna writes

Actually, some ribbons are willful, contrary, cantankerous, slithery and rippledy. (Not so sure about that last word.) Sometimes I use ribbon to bind blankets ( real blankets) when I find a good buy of the fleece appropriate for newborns. Babies love to rub satin as well as to chew on it but that stuff takes lots of patience and pins. This is not a challenge we would recommend for someone about to give birth. Go have a nice bowl of ice cream and prop up your feet. Polly

"Patti" It was just an idea for a special quilt that Edna is making with satins

I used sating blanket binding on my grandson's little cotton quilt for the car and it worked out fine. I plan to do the same on his little sister's quilt this month except I am thinking about putting "tags" of different ribbons on one end.

Right -- after I sleep under it a couple of times (with my feline QI's howling at the door for their usual nocturnal admission to to the bedroom), this quilt will be hung on the wall over my piano. The quilt is made of black and purple taffetas and satins. Or it will be. Knock wood.

Edna Pearl

I am always astonished by how difficult it is to make drapes well. My mother, a brilliant seamstress, used to say so, too. Add to that the slick waywardness of satin, and I don't know how you managed it.

I'm making my quilt out of satin and tafetta because the taffeta came from some lovely skirts my mother made for me when I was a young girl. I found the skirts in a storage box, felt it would be a shame to let the fabric go to waste, and decided the fabric would be a good reason to dust off the book on quilting I had bought a few years ago. Then I stumbled on a satin sale at Hobby Lobby and felt the satin would be the best possible border for the shiny taffeta, and bought enough for the backing, too, knowing full well that it would be very troublesome to deal with.

But I was *motivated* by the beauty of the slippery taffeta and satin like no other fabric had motivated me before to learn to quilt, so I have no complaints or regrets. I'd be a slow worker with any fabric, so it doesn't make much difference. The main difference, I think, is that I have to pin more often to measure and cut.

Edna Pearl

tags? j.

"Idahoqltr" wrote... I used sating blanket binding on my grandson's little cotton quilt for the car and it worked out fine. I plan to do the same on his little sister's quilt this month except I am thinking about putting "tags" of different ribbons on one end.