Tu-Na Quilts: Bind It Up

15 Replies

There’s a couple of bloggers offering binding tips today for the Sew Much Fun Blog hosted by Faith & Fabric.

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I’ve got a couple of suggestions to share that I find helpful before I actually sew on the binding.

1. Making Quick Hanging Corners for Wall Quilts

Fold a 5 inch square of fabric on the diagonal with wrong sides together. Add one of these to each of the top two corners of your wall quilt. Stitch it in place with your machine using a slightly less than 1/4″ seam allowance before you add the binding.

tunaquilts 1a

Tu-Na Helper cut a thin slat of wood about 1″ less than the finished width of the wall hanging and sanded it smooth.

tunaquilts 5a

The thin slat of wood should fit nicely from one side to the other but have enough give to make inserting it easy. 

tunaquilts 6a

 Then it’s ready to hang and be enjoyed.

tunaquilts 7a

I have a mirror covering an entire wall. Until I can convince Tu-Na Helper that it should be demolished, I’ve taken to hanging my wall quilts on it. Did you notice the quilt on the table? I just returned from using the longarm on the elephant quilt so it’s ready for binding. It won’t be long now and it will be in the mail on it’s way to one sweet little girl who I’ve never met, yet. But the real question is who in their right mind puts white carpet on floors in Arizona? They came with the house and it took multiple cleanings to get them looking better but I still can’t wait until it’s replaced.

2. Avoiding Seams in the Corners

Before I sew on the binding, I lay out the binding along the edges using Clover Clips to secure it. This way I’m checking it to make sure I don’t end up with bulky seams in the corners. If I find that there is a seam hitting close to the corner area, I reposition the binding and reclip it. It is time consuming but so much better than ending up with a bulky corner or two.

tunaquilts 2a

3. Picking a starting spot

I read once that starting and ending the binding in the top left corner of the quilt is the best as it is the least noticeable. However, now that I’ve learned to join the ends with a miter that is accurate and easy (thanks, Debb), I find it unnecessary but I’m finding that old habits die hard. Sandra has a good tutorial for joining the ends on her blog Musings of a Menopausal Melon. 

4. For your Viewing Pleasure

Just because I have a few more cacti blooms to share

tunaquilts 3a

 

tunaquilts 4a


You can find more cacti blooms here, here, and my favorite here.

Please visit these other bloggers on the hop for more insight into binding.

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps

Jen at Patterns by Jen

And Me! Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats Thanks for stopping by.

What I Learned Today:

  1. Even small hops can be fun.
  2. Standing and quilting with a longarm for three hours is very tiring.
  3. The Saguaro blooms are getting ready to open. They are about a month ahead of schedule probably due to lack of moisture this year here in the desert. This means ROAD TRIP into the desert.

Question: Do you prefer to sew that last side of binding down by hand or machine? I prefer to sit and hand sew it down. But I’ll be trying a flange binding on the elephant quilt requiring it to be sewn by machine.

Thanks for stopping by and do come again.

Karen Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

Linking to:

Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River

 

15 thoughts on “Tu-Na Quilts: Bind It Up”

  1. rl2b2017

    Hi Karen,
    Great binding tips today! I have never used the corner hangers, which are a fabulous idea, nor the thin slat of wood. That would sure keep the top of the quilt nice and flat and taunt. Thanks also for sharing the cactus pictures of them in bloom. They are just gorgeous! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  2. piecefulwendy

    Great tips, Karen! I haven’t used the corner hangers yet, so I’ll have to give them a try. Those desert blooms are pretty, and I’m looking forward to more cacti pictures soon! I do the last step of binding by hand. I enjoy stitching while I watch a show (it keeps my fingers away from the chocolate- ha). Enjoy your day!

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  3. thedarlingdogwood

    I did a binding by machine yesterday and was reminded of how much I HATE that! I much prefer binding by hand!

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  4. Sandra Walker

    A flange binding is FABulous! And yes, standing for hours at a longarm quilting is very tiring…I may have done about 10 late last week… over the course of two days. Thank you Karen for the shout-out to my binding tutorials! And here’s a laugh: I totally forgot that tip about glue dots on the mitred join in the past several finishes! Ah menopause I hate thee well…

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  7. Rochelle

    Karen, I do both. I like it by hand if it is something I want to show or perhaps gift. Kids and donation quilts, I bind by machine. Everytime I hit a corner when I’m sewing and find a seam I remember that I was supposed to check it out before I sew it down. Maybe I need a reminder sheet above my sewing machine….but then I’d have to remember to look at it!

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  8. Leslie Schmidt

    I like to sew the binding on by hand. I’ve only sewn it by machine on some dish-drying mats, and I really don’t like it. A lot of people think the binding is the worst part of the quilting process, but for me it’s the actual quilting. Your hints were great. I have never done the little corners on the back, but I think it would be terrific for little wall hangings.

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  11. Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts

    Great tips about adding the hanging pieces in the corners Karen! I’ve done that a time or too and it works great. It’s funny, I’ve been told to start/stop binding in the lower right part of a quilt for it to be less noticeable. I’ve ended up with the seams in my corners a time or two and it’s a pain. I know I should lay the binding out first but I always skip that step – I’m a lazy binder! 🙂

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  13. Judy B

    Don’t you just love the corner hanging triangles? I nearly always use them on wall hangings. I find a 1/4″ to 1/2″ dowel works well too. I always sew the last side of a binding by hand. I would like to learn to do it “really well” by machine someday!

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  14. Pingback: Tu-Na Quilts: A Review of Tu-Na’s 2018 Quilting and Blogging Goals | Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

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