Colorways By Vicki Welsh
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        • I'm Not a Snowflake Quilt
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        • The Groovy Quilts
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        • The Maine Quilt
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        • The Wedding Quilt Quilt
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        • CSQ Challenge Quilt
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      • 2015 >
        • Snaps Quilt
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        • Wild Goose Chase Quilt
        • Fractured Fragments Quilt
        • Tell It To the Stars Quilt
        • Cathedral Window Quilt
        • Time In Place Quilt
        • Shaken Not Stirred Quilt
        • Pleiades Quilt
      • 2014 >
        • Spinning Stars Quilt
        • Fractured Spiral Quilt
        • Autumn Leaves Quilt
        • Sea Dreams Quilt
        • Woodland Star Quilt
        • Zombie Ball Quilt
        • Innova Angles Quilt
      • 2013 >
        • Murder For a Jar of Red Rum Quilt
        • Patroitic Quilts
        • Red Sunset Bedding Quilt
        • The Infamous Fish Quilt
        • Gratitudes Quilt
      • 2012 >
        • Illuminated Blocks Quilt
        • Kims Wedding Quilt
        • Crossing The South Anna Quilt
        • Coming Home Quilt
        • See Reverse Quilt
        • Overboard Quilt
        • Floras Fans and Modern Crumbs Quilt
        • The Patriot Quilt
        • On Point Quilt
        • Grinch Quilts
      • 2011 >
        • Star Struck Quilt
        • On A Whim Quilt
        • Catena Quilt
        • Zig Zag Scraps Quilt
        • Purple Keepsakes Quilt
        • Fiberactions Challenge Quilts
        • Journal Quilts 2011
      • 2010 >
        • Maggie the Messmaker Cross Stitch
        • Fiberactions Challenge Quilts
        • Wootten Memory Quilts
        • Teal Tomorrow Quilt
      • 2009 >
        • Shereen's Peaceful Garden
        • TShirt Quilt Commission
        • Three Generation Quilt
      • 2008 >
        • Flora's Quilts
        • Monkey Baby Quilts
        • Citrus Quilt
      • 2007 >
        • Snails Trail Quilts
        • Quilts of Valor
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      • 2006 and older >
        • Scrap Bin Quilt
        • Flora's Dutchman's Breeches
        • The Gift Quilts
        • Reversible Quilts
        • Spectacular Scraps Quilts
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        • Art Quilts
        • Kathy's Memorial Quilt
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      • Silver Christmas Tree Postcard
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      • Holiday Ornament Postcard
      • Postcard as a Door Hanger
      • Plaid Tree Postcard Tutorial
      • Button Tree Postcard
      • Fireworks Postcard Tutorial
    • Quilting Tutorials >
      • The Gift Quilt Pattern
      • Keepsakes Quilt Pattern
      • Blocking a Quilt
      • Facing A Quilt Tutorial
      • Veterans Quilt Tutorials >
        • Allegiance Quilt Pattern
        • Gratitudes Quilt Pattern
        • Strength Quilt Pattern
        • Blockade Quilt Pattern
        • Redoubt Quilt Pattern
        • Regiment Quilt Pattern
        • Bars and Stripes Quilt Pattern
      • Rainbow Quilt Free Pattern
      • Binding a Quilt
    • Surface Design Tutorials >
      • Ice Dyeing tutorial
      • Snow Dyeing basics tutorial
      • Snow Dyeing Mandala
      • Sun Printing Tutorial
      • Lamp Printing Tutorial
      • Dyeing extra large fabrics
      • Hold the Retayne
      • Painted Shower Curtain Tutorial
      • Metallic Paint Effects on Fabric
      • Curing Metallic Fabric Paints
      • Zentange Pens
      • Leaf Printing Tutorial
      • Printing On Fabric
      • Life of MX Dye Concentrates
      • Testing Soda Ash in fabric dyeing
    • Color Theory
    • Placemat Tutorials >
      • Rise and Shine Placemat Tutorial
      • Coming Home Placemat Tutorial
      • Mineral Pool Placemat Tutorial
      • Sugar Maple Placemats
      • Fat Quarter Placemat Tutorial
      • Merry Mats Placemat Tutorial
    • Basic Tutorials >
      • Custom Sewing Table
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      • Surgery Drain Bag Tutorial
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      • Trash To Treasure Holiday Ornaments
      • Pet Bed From Scraps Tutorial
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    • Longarm Quilting Tutorials >
      • The longarm machine does matter
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Binding A Quilt Tutorial

You've made your quilt top and gotten it quilted and now there's only one step left to finish it up: binding. I've not met anyone who loves to do binding but a nicely executed binding makes all the different int he look of the quilt.

This tutorial covers the basic traditional binding where the binding is machine stitched to the front of the quilt and then hand stitched to the back like the bindings to the right.


Picture
Picture
When I make quilts meant for kids or heavy use I will stitch the binding to the back and then topstitch it to the front, like the one on the left. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a completely machine stitched binding. It's very durable for quilts that are going to be used a lot.

Start by cutting and sewing the binding strips

binding tutorial
​The first step is to determine how much binding fabric and how many strips you need you need. The calculation that I use is:

(quilt length + quilt width)*2 + 15 inches

Divide that number by the width of fabric (less selveges) to get the number of strips.

Number of strips * width of strip = the yardage needed

How wide do you cut the strips? It depends on how narrow or wide you want the binding and how thick the batting is. Sometimes when I want a very particular effect I will cut some small fabric strips in varying widths to test them out until I get the perfect binding. For standard comfort quilts I tend to cut a width of 2 1/4". If the batting is thick or the quilt has a backing similar to Minky I'll cut a 2 1/2" strip.

binding tutorial
Cut all of the strips that you need and stitch them together into one long strip. To manage the bulk of the seam stitch the strips together on the bias.

Lay out the first strip right side up horizontally on your work surface and align a ruler along the top edge. Then place the next strip perpendicular to the first one right sides together along the edge of the ruler.

binding tutorial
Pin the 2 strips together on the top right and chalk or pencil a line diagonally corner to corner across the strip. 

binding tutorial
Stitch on the drawn line. I like to use a stitch length of 1.5 - 2.0  for these seams.

binding tutorial
Trim the seam allowance and press the seam to one side. The binding gets a lot of wear and a seam pressed open will wear faster.

Stitch all of the binding pieces into one long strip. 

I do not take an extra step to press the binding in half. I just fold it as I attach it to the quilt.

Sew the binding to one side of the quilt

binding tutorial
Start applying the binding near the middle of one edge. Fold the binding in half (wrong sides together) and align the wrong edges to the raw edge of the quilt. Leave about 10 - 12" of binding tail ahead of where you start stitching.

If you are doing a traditional binding then sew it to the from of the quilt.
​If you are doing a totally machine stitched binding then stitch the binding to the back of the quilt.

binding tutorial
The first thing you want to figure out is the optimal seam allowance. I set my machine to a long basting stitch and stitch a few inches at about 1/4".

binding tutorial
Fold the binding to the back to see if the edge of the binding will cover the basting stitch. In this example, it doesn't. So Ill rip out that stitching a try a narrower seam allowance.

Picture
This one is perfect!

binding tutorial
Set your seam allowance on the machine. That might be with the width of your sewing machine foot, a line on the sewing plate or a seam allowance attachment.

On my very simple straight stitch machine I use a stack of sticky notes taped to the machine.

Turning the corners

binding tutorial
As you stitch the binding be careful not to stretch the binding, especially at the corners. If the binding is stretched while it's sewn the corners on the finished quilt will curl in.

As you get near the corner chalk or pencil a diagonal line from the corner of the edge of the quilt. Stitch to that mark, stop with the needle down, lift the presser foot and turn the quilt to align the needle to stitch on the chalked line. Lower the presser foot and stitch off the edge of the corner.
​Clip the threads.

binding tutorial
Here's what the corner looks like after it's stitched.

binding tutorial
Fold the binding 45 degrees so that the cut edges are perfectly aligned with the next edge of the quilt you are going to sew.

binding tutorial
Fold the binding back over the previous fold so that the new folded edge is perfectly aligned with the sewn edge of the quilt and the loose binding is perfectly aligned with the next edge to stitch.

binding tutorial
Here's what it looks like under that folded corner.

Picture
Start sewing the next side from the edge of the quilt down to the next corner. Continue like this until you are back around to ALMOST where you started. Leave about 10" unstitched to leave space for joining the tails.

****Note: As you stitch your binding you might have a situation where a binding seam ends up in one of your corners. You can prevent this all together by laying out the binding around the quilt before you start stitching and adjust your starting point so that those seams are always away from a corner.  Or as you get about 10" from a corner and see that the seam is falling there, cut your threads and re-piece the ends so that the seam is moved away from the corner.

Joining the ends

binding tutorial
Leave about  10 - 15" area unstitched so that you have room to work with the binding tails and get them sewn together.

binding tutorial
Fold the 2 binding tails back on so that they butt together in the middle of the space. Finger press creases in each binding end and pin the folds.

binding tutorial
To give yourself some working space temporarily pin a big pleat in the quilt.

binding tutorial
Open each binding tail and use chalk to mark the creases on the right side of the fabric. With some fabrics the crease will be visible enough without marking.

binding tutorial
When joining the edges make sure that you always have right sides together.

Open the left binding tail and then place the right binding tail on it PERPENDICULAR, aligning the chalked lines in both directions.

binding tutorial
Here's a closeup of how they are aligned.

binding tutorial
Chalk or pencil a line diagonally across that joint. You know you've done it right if that line is PARALLEL to the edge of the quilt.
​Stitch that line but do not trim yet.

binding tutorial
Before you cut the excess fabric from the binding remove the pleat in the quilt, open the binding and make sure that it fits perfectly. Once you know it's right trim the excess fabric from the last binding seam, finger press the seam allowance to one side and finish stitching the binding to the quilt.

Sew the binding to the back

Picture
If you are doing the totally machine stitched binding all of these instructions apply to the front of the quilt and you will be topstitching instead of hand stitching. Use a bobbin thread that will match your backing fabric.

I do not pin or clip the binding as I hand sew it. I just work on the inch that I'm getting read to stitch and hold it with my hand. Pinning and clipping just takes a lot of extra time and doesn't really add any value. Every time you remove a pin or clip you are still adjusting the binding a bit with your hand.

Hand stitch the binding with a blind hem stitch or ladder stitch. I use a single thread and make my stitches about 1/4 inch apart. Hide knots under the binding.

binding tutorial
As you get to the corner stop just short of the binding bobbin stitching line. Fold the top edge down and the left edge over to the right.

binding tutorial
If everything is right you will get a perfect miter meeting at the corner. This can take some fiddling but it's worth a little effort to get it perfect.

​At this point I actually use a pin or two to keep this in place while I stitch the miter.

binding tutorial
Occasionally there's just too much bulk in the corner to get a perfectly turned corner. I'll just snip out a little batting to reduce that bulk and then I can get the corner to turn perfectly.

binding tutorial
Take a moment to admire this perfectly turned corner. Looking at the corner from the side you can see that the bulk from the folds on each side are on opposite sides of the miter. In the photo the bulk on the top is to the right and the bulk on the bottom is to the left. That makes the corner balanced and you will get less wear.

binding tutorial
Before I stitch the next edge of the quilt I always stitch down the miter fold. Start with the back side.

binding tutorial
At the point stitch straight through to the front coming out in the fold.

binding tutorial
Take a few stitches to secure the fold on the front of the binding and then poke the needle back to the back making sure you come out in a convenient spot.

binding tutorial
That's a convenient spot. Now you can travel back to the corner and start stitching the binding down the next side.

One last tip

binding tutorial
When I'm hand stitching the binding I end a thread with a knot under the binding. You can see my knot right under the folded edge of the binding. I always start the new thread so that I overlap a few stitches. That way of a know gets loose it's less likely to unravel because there are some double stitches in that area.

Contact
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  • Welcome
  • Shop
    • Hand Dyed Fabric
    • Glass
    • Just Plain Soap
  • Blog
  • Galleries
    • Customer Gallery >
      • Project Submission Form
    • Quilt Gallery >
      • 2023 >
        • Heirloom Bear
      • 2022 >
        • Summer Sunset Quilt
        • Soundwave Quilt
      • 2021 >
        • A Big Green Quilt
        • Finally! Quilt
      • 2020 >
        • Jackies Choice Quilt
        • Penguins on Ice Quilt
        • Corona Cats Quilt
        • Kim's Garden
      • 2019 >
        • Indonesian Batik Quilt
        • Lost My Marbles
        • Remaking Flora's quilt
        • I'm Not a Snowflake Quilt
        • Where In The World Is My Cat Quilt
        • Fireworks
        • The Groovy Quilts
        • The Puppy Quilt
      • 2018 >
        • The Maine Quilt
        • Stars At Sea
        • Antelope Canyon Quilt
      • 2017 >
        • The Wedding Quilt Quilt
        • Rainbow's End Quilt
      • 2016 >
        • CSQ Challenge Quilt
        • Wholecloth Quilt of Valor
        • Luras Choice Quilt
        • Black Swan Quilt
        • 2016 Quilt of Valor Quilt
        • Non Unus Pluma Quilt
      • 2015 >
        • Snaps Quilt
        • Batik Crossroads Quilt
        • Wild Goose Chase Quilt
        • Fractured Fragments Quilt
        • Tell It To the Stars Quilt
        • Cathedral Window Quilt
        • Time In Place Quilt
        • Shaken Not Stirred Quilt
        • Pleiades Quilt
      • 2014 >
        • Spinning Stars Quilt
        • Fractured Spiral Quilt
        • Autumn Leaves Quilt
        • Sea Dreams Quilt
        • Woodland Star Quilt
        • Zombie Ball Quilt
        • Innova Angles Quilt
      • 2013 >
        • Murder For a Jar of Red Rum Quilt
        • Patroitic Quilts
        • Red Sunset Bedding Quilt
        • The Infamous Fish Quilt
        • Gratitudes Quilt
      • 2012 >
        • Illuminated Blocks Quilt
        • Kims Wedding Quilt
        • Crossing The South Anna Quilt
        • Coming Home Quilt
        • See Reverse Quilt
        • Overboard Quilt
        • Floras Fans and Modern Crumbs Quilt
        • The Patriot Quilt
        • On Point Quilt
        • Grinch Quilts
      • 2011 >
        • Star Struck Quilt
        • On A Whim Quilt
        • Catena Quilt
        • Zig Zag Scraps Quilt
        • Purple Keepsakes Quilt
        • Fiberactions Challenge Quilts
        • Journal Quilts 2011
      • 2010 >
        • Maggie the Messmaker Cross Stitch
        • Fiberactions Challenge Quilts
        • Wootten Memory Quilts
        • Teal Tomorrow Quilt
      • 2009 >
        • Shereen's Peaceful Garden
        • TShirt Quilt Commission
        • Three Generation Quilt
      • 2008 >
        • Flora's Quilts
        • Monkey Baby Quilts
        • Citrus Quilt
      • 2007 >
        • Snails Trail Quilts
        • Quilts of Valor
        • Other Quilts
      • 2006 and older >
        • Scrap Bin Quilt
        • Flora's Dutchman's Breeches
        • The Gift Quilts
        • Reversible Quilts
        • Spectacular Scraps Quilts
        • Foundation Pieced Quilts
        • Art Quilts
        • Kathy's Memorial Quilt
    • Symmetry Quilt Gallery
    • Dyeing Gallery >
      • Tie Dye Gallery
      • Shibori Gallery
    • Postcard Gallery
    • Fused Glass Gallery
    • Mosaic Gallery
    • Zentangle and Spirograph
  • Tutorials
    • Save My Bleeding Quilt
    • Postcard Tutorials >
      • Silver Christmas Tree Postcard
      • Easy Framed Motif Postcard
      • Trash to treasure postcards
      • Holiday Ornament Postcard
      • Postcard as a Door Hanger
      • Plaid Tree Postcard Tutorial
      • Button Tree Postcard
      • Fireworks Postcard Tutorial
    • Quilting Tutorials >
      • The Gift Quilt Pattern
      • Keepsakes Quilt Pattern
      • Blocking a Quilt
      • Facing A Quilt Tutorial
      • Veterans Quilt Tutorials >
        • Allegiance Quilt Pattern
        • Gratitudes Quilt Pattern
        • Strength Quilt Pattern
        • Blockade Quilt Pattern
        • Redoubt Quilt Pattern
        • Regiment Quilt Pattern
        • Bars and Stripes Quilt Pattern
      • Rainbow Quilt Free Pattern
      • Binding a Quilt
    • Surface Design Tutorials >
      • Ice Dyeing tutorial
      • Snow Dyeing basics tutorial
      • Snow Dyeing Mandala
      • Sun Printing Tutorial
      • Lamp Printing Tutorial
      • Dyeing extra large fabrics
      • Hold the Retayne
      • Painted Shower Curtain Tutorial
      • Metallic Paint Effects on Fabric
      • Curing Metallic Fabric Paints
      • Zentange Pens
      • Leaf Printing Tutorial
      • Printing On Fabric
      • Life of MX Dye Concentrates
      • Testing Soda Ash in fabric dyeing
    • Color Theory
    • Placemat Tutorials >
      • Rise and Shine Placemat Tutorial
      • Coming Home Placemat Tutorial
      • Mineral Pool Placemat Tutorial
      • Sugar Maple Placemats
      • Fat Quarter Placemat Tutorial
      • Merry Mats Placemat Tutorial
    • Basic Tutorials >
      • Custom Sewing Table
      • Liquid Spray Starch Recipe
    • Crafts and Small Projects >
      • Surgery Drain Bag Tutorial
      • Drawstring Bag Sewing Tutorial
      • Large Tote Tutorial
      • Big Fabric Flower Tutorial
      • The best potholders pattern
      • Notebook Cover Tutorial
      • Pillowcase tutorial
      • Wide Brim Sun Visor
      • Trash To Treasure Holiday Ornaments
      • Pet Bed From Scraps Tutorial
      • Framed Metal Quilt
      • Shooting Shirt Tutorial
      • Making Paper
      • Making Soap
      • Favorite Soap Reicpes
      • Lotion Making
      • Bowl hot pad pattern
    • Longarm Quilting Tutorials >
      • The longarm machine does matter
      • Double Wavy Crosshatch
      • Wavy Crosshatch Longarm
      • Quilting Letters on a Quilt
      • Centering a Quilt back on a longarm
      • Quilting Snowball Blocks
      • Easy Longarm Piano Keys
      • Using Channel Locks
      • Sewing/Serging quilt backing to zippers
      • Adding backing on the longarm
  • Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy