question on bindings

@#$! I can't get the computer to be still long enough to write a reply. Gen, my hands don't want to hand-stitch a big quilt binding either. I do if it's a very special event sort of quilt but for the crib quilts and 'hard wear to be expected' ones, I birth them and put a simple scallop around the edge to give it a bit of pretty as well as sturdy. It's a concession I've had to make. I made another concession today. I actually went out to the shop, got a stool and sat on it while I gave our pretty plants a nice soak and dead-headed the petunias. I just can't do the standing and bending anymore. Just my opinion, but I don't think the fusible for a binding is a good idea. Maybe someone here has good suggestions other than just doing whatever you can and walking away until next time. You could use a water soluble thread to machine stitch and hold everything spit-spot perfectly so your decorative stitch would behave nicely. Next? Polly

"Gen" wrote> Has anyone ever fused a binding on a full size quilt with Steam-A-Seam2, as

I don't know whether you would consider this as an alternative, Gen; but when I have been doing a 'set' of incubator covers for the hospital, I don't have 'hand energy/strength' to hand sew bindings (not, usually, time).

So, what I have done a few times now - and have much improved on its neatness - is to turn in both back and front and machine sew together. The thing is, you can position your sewing together so that the effect is very similar to a binding. My first sew is right along the edge - and this could be a decorative stitch; the second would be a straight stitch, a binding's width from the edge.

As nothing lasts forever, I do not consider how it would wear in use, but I can't see that it would wear less well than a binding? . In message , Gen writes

I have arthritis in both hands and was just diagnosed with severe carpal tunnel....so right now there are some real limitations (at least until I get the carpel tunnel surgery!). I use Sharon Schamber's glue binding method. Glue, then machine stitch. Gorgous flat bindings in no time, all the time, with no pinning and a lot less pain.

-Irene

Pat, I have done this, only hand sewing it when I took the quilt along to finish. it while on a camping trip. If I remember correctly, I turned under the edges and pinned it for about 12 inches, stopped and hand sewed, then pinned another 12 inches or so. This has been about 15 or 20 years ago and it is still holding fine. The quilt is used just a few times a year, usually to snuggle up with on the couch or just to throw on top of the bed during the coldest nights. Barbara in SC

I use a lot of permanent fabric glue and have found it holds up very well. I use it to attach 3D appliques and to hold down little bits of applique that misbehave and even a dab when my seam allowances are very narrow due to 'adjustments'- it prevents raveling more than I'd trust something like Fray-Check. The permanent glue is rather rubber- y when it dries, so I'd say use it sparingly. (It 'soaks' down into the fabric and the rubber-y consistency really holds!) I think it might be an option for you but be aware I've never tried it for a binding.

Leslie & The Furbabies > Has anyone ever fused a binding on a full size quilt with Steam-A-Seam2, = as

Thanks for all the answers. The video was great, but it still had to be sewn down, I may try permanent glue---still experimenting. Gen

Gen, not sure if you looked at the videos, but the Elmer's glue is SET with a hot iron, and it sticks everything together extremely well for stitching.

-Irene

I don't think it will hold permanently, however, one of the teachers I took a class from years ago uses Steam-A-Steam2 to iron her binding on, so she doesn't have to pin it or use clips to hold it down while she is hand sewing it. I used to use her method all the time, but, my hands are okay (for now at least), so I don't do it anymore. It did make it easier to manage keeping the binding where it belonged while I was sewing.

Pauline Northern California