Binding!

Welcome back!

I thought I’d take a few minutes to plug one of my favorite tutorials.  I’ve seen a lot of people in various online forums say their least favorite part of quilting is the binding process.  I can certainly sympathize. I used to really dislike binding. It can be a long, painstaking process depending on what method you use.  Some people recommend using your machine to stitch the binding on and then fold it over and hand stitch it finished.  I tried that exactly twice, on two small quilts (pictured below), and quickly decided I neither had the patience to do so ever again.

I read a lot of books and web articles on the subject but had a really difficult time getting my head around the concept. So I turned to google to see what else was out there.

This tutorial on binding, by Red Pepper Quilts, is the best I’ve ever found on the subject. When I began quilting, I think I watched dozens of videos but that didn’t prepare me for the process. I’m a kinesic learner – I learn by doing – so I had to sit and make myself practice.

I didn’t want to mess up any quilts so I made up a project to do that incorporated binding.

I made four double sided placemats and bound them as you would a quilt.  Once I was done, I not only had some nice placemats (which are still in use in our house to this very day) but I had something more important: confidence.  I took that confidence and made six more placemats, binding them as well (and gave them away as a gift), and all that practice really paid off. Now I have absolutely no fear of binding but I have also gained a great deal of confidence in my own abilities. Which, as we all know, is really important in sewing.

So, if you feel anxious about binding, I highly recommend finding a couple of small projects to build your confidence up!

Here’s a couple of photos of some binding I made for Marmalade Dream.  I’ll be showcasing quilting for MD for this Friday’s triumphant return of “FMQ Friday!” Yay!

So pretty!

That’s all I had to share today. See you tomorrow with a post showcasing progress on Red Hunter’s Star! Have a lovely day!