I quilted fans on the quilt, and I'm quite happy with the texture they add. I had a variegated thread in pink/green/blue that was a good match, so I used that on the top, with a pale pink in the bobbin. The backing fabric is mostly white, so I wanted something pale in the bobbin, but not white which might clash of the tension wasn't perfect on top.
Now, I am a longstanding cheater on binding. I like to use double fold bias tape, and I machine sew it on with a serpentine stitch. I do know how to traditionally bind a quilt, I just choose not to do it that way. I thought I had some hot pink bias tape in stash, that would match the inner border well enough. I looked, and came up empty. I must have finished that roll of bias tape (it was a seasonal color and is no longer offered). I don't have enough of the hot pink fabric to make a traditional binding. I do have some turquoise, but didn't like that option when put up against the center, and I have some of the light pink, but I thought it made the border blocks look weird since only half of those are framed with light pink. As I was considering options, I flipped the quilt to the backside, and decided hot pink would likely be pretty stark against the backing fabric, so I came up with the idea of pink and white gingham! Yes, that was perfect. I thought I had a roll of pink gingham bias tape, nope, I have mint green, black, and red. I looked at my fabric, any pink and white gingham? Nope.
Guess who ordered a roll of pink gingham bias tape? While I was at it I ordered a roll of blue as well. Home Sew already shipped my order, and it will be here next Wednesday, so next week this quilt can be finished.
I'm not a quilt police kind of person. If you enjoy making traditional binding, I think that's great, and you should continue doing things in methods you enjoy. I don't enjoy doing binding in a traditional method, so there's nothing traditional in the way I do binding. I use 1/2" (not 1/4") double fold bias tape. I start on the bottom of the quilt leaving about a 6" tail of bias tape , wrap the edges of the bias tape around the edge of the quilt, set my Bernina on the widest serpentine stitch, and start sewing. I stop at corners and break thread, miter the corner, then continue. When I get all the way around the quilt, I simply overlap the ends about 1/2", cut and sew a butt join. No complicated diagonal joins, no sewing each side down separately, when I've finished quilting a quilt, I simply want it finished! A lot of quilters wouldn't be happy with this type of binding, and I'm ok with that. The thing is, I'm not a show quilter. I don't plan on any of my quilts hanging in a show. I don't care if any of my quilts lasts for generations. I want my quilts used, I make utility quilts, and bindings done this way hold up through lots of washes, lots of blanket forts, lots of picnics.
Am I suggesting you switch to my method? No. It breaks all the quilting "rules" out there. That said, if you've got a huge stack of quilts that need binding, and you're having problems getting them finished, maybe hand sewing isn't easy for you any more, this method might be worth a shot. I've been binding quilts like this for years, and I have NEVER had to repair a binding done by this method. I have had to resew several bindings that were hand sewn. So there it is, I'm not pushing this method, I'm just giving you food for thought if binding isn't your thing.
If you are interested in where I get my binding, I buy 100 yard rolls from here. If you are interested in patterned bias tape, use this link. These are cotton/poly blends, which doesn't bother me, especially for a binding. If you want to try it, you can buy 10 yard lengths, which would likely do one quilt. It's a quick way to decide if this would work for you. I've been doing binding like this for years, so I pretty much have one roll of each color of bias tape in stash. Sometimes Home Sew offers seasonal colors or patterns, so I actually have a couple options in stash that they don't currently offer. They also offer double fold 1/4" bias tape, but personally I find that harder to sew on in one step.
I still haven't fixed my longarm, I think I'm just going to bring it in for servicing. Unfortunately, my Bernina dealer won't repair it, so I need to bring the two machines to two different places. I'm not sure we'll be able to get either machine dropped off in the next week, so it may be a couple weeks. The Bernina is still sewing fine, and I have vintage machines to use anyway, so I can still sew in any time I find to sew. Life is pretty busy right now, so we'll see what I choose to work on.
On the non-quilty front, we had a clogged drain this week, and after moving everything so the plumber could get things fixed, I'm going on a reorganizing tangent in the kitchen and laundry area. Of course, now I'm moving stuff in the pantry as well! When I get in an organizing mood there's no telling where I'l stop!
Are there any things you do as a quilter that would leave the quilt police in a tizzy? Surely I'm not the only rebel out there?
1 comment:
Your flamingo is very cute. With rare exception I don’t hand sew bindings. I sew the traditional way but start on the back and then flip it over and machine stitch it down. It’s so much faster and it looks fairly good. Only fairly good because sometimes my stitches wander off the binding and show on the back but it is what it is. I don’t make quilts for shows either. Most are donated and the recipients don’t care. I keep thinking I’ll organize something but haven’t succumbed yet.
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