Taking the machine binding plunge
Posted by cottonmillthreadworks on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
Piecing, appliqueing, quilting - I do it all by machine. But I've always loved binding by hand. Just sitting and sewing. The portability of it, and the peaceful repetitiveness. Being in tears should not be part of the equation, and I have finally succumbed to severe chronic hand pain. Perfect opportunity to learn a new skill - machine binding.
Striving for a more traditional look in machine binding was my goal. Luckily we have internet, and luckily we have wonderful bloggers who write tutorials. Amanda Jean's
recent blog entry
finally tipped the scale and I took the plunge. She made the process look calm and stress-free. Which it was, after I remembered to sew the binding to the back of the quilt first!
Then I simply flipped it over to the front and held it as I sewed:
The mitre at the corners I held with the help of my snips:
Does this look easy-peasy? It was!
The true test is on the back, and I can definitely live with this:
Now for the technical info. The top thread was Masterpiece 50 wt. cotton in a fairly blendy colour, although I didn't mind that the stitching showed. It is so obviously machine binding - no need to hide it.
But since the stitching on the back wasn't always the same distance away from the binding I wanted to make this less noticeable.
Bottom Line
60 wt. poly was my choice, in a colour to blend with the backing fabric.
Hope you have a wonderful browse at
crazymomquilts
- Amanda Jean has some fun looking project tutorials also. I feel a 36-patch coming on....
Comments
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Good for you Bev! I used a 3.0 stitch length. The walking foot is NOT an option! Let me know how it goes.by Anita on 06 December 2011 at 7:58 a.m.
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Okay you have done what no what else has. Convinced me to give this a try. Right after Christmas I'm going to make a small wallhanging and see if I like it. Oh, shoot I'm in a hurry to get my BOM for December done, I'll give it a go on this one.by Bev Andersen on 06 December 2011 at 7:38 a.m.
