I like to use a strip-facing binding technique because it helps the quilt hang straighter than a traditional
binding. I also use this technique when I don’t want the binding to be visible
when viewing the front of the quilt.
Once your quilt is quilted, trim it to the final size plus 1/4"
all the way around the quilt (just like using a traditional binding). Select
your binding fabric. If my quilt has borders, I like to use the same
fabric for the binding. If there is more than one color at the edge of my
quilt, I try to use a fabric that is similar in color in that area.
For the purposes of this tutorial, I used contrasting colors
for the binding strips so it’s easier to see what’s going on.
How to:
Cut two strips 2-1/2” wide by the length of your quilt and
two strips 2-1/2” wide by the width of your quilt.
Optional: The 2-1/2”
is somewhat random. You could cut them 2” or 3”. Sometimes I’ll cut them wider
for larger quilts and narrower for smaller quilts.
Press a 1/4" seam toward the wrong side of the fabric.
Optional: I like to
fuse a strip of 1/4" fusible tape on this seam
The strips pinned to the front of the quilt
Lay the strips on the front of your quilt, right sides
together with the 1/4" seam closer to the middle and pin along the edges.
Optional: The strips
on the top (in this case the blue ones) can be a little smaller than the width of the quilt to keep the bulk
out of the corners. Also, if you used some fusible adhesive, pull the paper off
the part that goes under the other binding strip.
The strips sewn to the front of the quilt and the fusible paper removed
Sew around the quilt 1/4" from the edge. I like to backstitch
in the corners to make them stronger. If you used fusible adhesive, remove the
rest of the paper backing.
View from the side...the seam is on the edge
Pull the binding strip around to the back so the seam is now
on the edge of the quilt. Use your fingers to push the corners out (similar to
when you use a pillowcase backing but much easier since you don’t have to reach
to get to the corner).
View of the finished back
Press with an iron so it will lay flat. If you used fusible
adhesive, fuse it down.
Hand sew the edges down. I’ll do this even if I’ve used fusible
but I’ll make the stitches farther apart than if I hadn’t used fusible.
Other tips:
If you plan it right, you can machine sew them down as part
of the quilting. For smaller quilts like the Feather series, I quilted the
middle and part of the edges before the binding but went back and did more quilting
after the binding was added so some of the quilting would hold the edges down.
