Binding -
A folded, straight of grain binding is great for quilts with straight sides.
Cut strips of binding fabric 2-1/2" wide and stitch them together,
end to end, to the length needed for each side. Each piece of binding needs
to be 3" longer than the quilt. Press the seams open, and press these
long strips in half lengthwise, right side out.
With the quilt still
on the floor from the blocking, but definitely dry, lay the two long binding
strips across the length of the quilt in the center just like you measured
the borders. Leaving 1-1/2" of 'tail' above the quilt, place a pin
through the binding, even with the top raw edge of the quilt. Carefully
smooth the bindings across the quilt, to keep them smooth, and place a
pin through them even with the bottom raw edge. There should be at least
a 1-1/2" 'tail' remaining.
Keeping the two bindings together without slipping, remove one end and
insert a second pin in the same spot so both binding strips will be marked.
Do the same at the other end.
Similarly mark the bindings for the top and bottom through the middle
of the quilt.
Pin each binding in place, keeping the raw edges of the binding even
with the raw edge of the quilt. Use several pins on each side so nothing
shifts or moves.
Stitch the bindings to the quilt with 1/4" seams, starting and stopping
at the 1/4" seam allowance at each corner. Trim any excess backing
and binding fabric so they extend about 1/4" beyond the edge of the
quilt.
To miter the corners of the bindings, fold the quilt back upon itself
at a corner so the binding from the side is lying exactly on top of the
top binding.
Place a mark on the fold of the binding straight above the place where
the stitching ended. Using the corner of a ruler (or my Binding Miter
Tool which was designed to make this easy!) point the corner toward the
binding tails, and center it so the distance from the ruler's corner is
the same to the stitching line as it is to the mark on the fold.
| Trace around the edge of the ruler's corner. |
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| On the back side of the quilt, hand whip-stitch the binding in place. |
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