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A little math helps in figuring out your quilt binding

A little math helps in figuring out your quilt binding

by Tania Denyer

Friday already! All week I’ve been expressing elements found in nature to make a quilt top. It has been most inspiring to create it using dreamy Hoffman Fabrics. For the cutting and sewing tasks involved I used indispensable tools like UNIQUE Folding Cutting Mat, the Sew Easy Quilting Ruler 24” x 6½”, KAI rotary cutter and the Truecut 360 Circle Cutter – so handy to make perfect circles!

Yesterday I added the applique details to the quilt top using Gütermann Variegated Cotton 50wt Thread, a variegated thread that blends well with the fabrics. It’s 100% natural cotton thread made with the finest, long-staple cotton and is strong with a silk-like luster. Suitable for both hand and machine sewing. I used a green colorway called Bahama Ocean.

A spool of GÜTERMANN Variegated Cotton 50wt Thread for Garden State of Mind quilt; Hoffman Fabrics

Gütermann Variegated Cotton 50wt Thread. A variegated thread blends well with the fabrics. This one is a green colorway called Bahama Ocean, sounds like happy vacation time to me!

Today is a simple summary with a little math of the steps to complete your quilt and a refresher on how to make quilt binding.

The first step is to find a big, clean space in which to sandwich your quilt. This is easier said than done in most of our homes!

Lay your backing out wrong side up, then your batting and finally your quilt top.

For this step, you can again use Odif 505. I used it yesterday to help in the composition with the quilt design elements. Odif 505 is a temporary, repositionable, fabric adhesive used to temporarily bond fabric. Odorless, colorless, no mist, does not gum sewing needles. Use for machine applique, quilting, basting, holding fabric to stabilizers in machine embroidery and hemming. Acid Free – No CFC’s. An important tool in a quilter’s toolbox!

Odif 505 Temporary Quilt Basting Adhesive Fabric Spray

Odif 505 Temporary Quilt Basting Adhesive Fabric Spray is an indispensable tool for quilters of any skill level.

As for the quilting, I prefer simple straight-line quilting with a walking foot. I start in the center of the quilt and sew quilt lines on either side of the first quilt line. This design is particularly good for this technique as the piecing of the backing makes it much easier.

TIP Remember to always work from the center out and always in one direction. If you sew quilt lines sometimes from the top of the quilt, sometimes from the bottom you’ll get waves in your quilt, both on the quilt top and the back. Fabric is not like paper and as much as you baste and use even feed on your sewing machine, fabric will move. Sewing quilting lines in only one direction helps to avoid waves.

After you finish the straight-line machine quilting, trim the quilt edges in preparation for binding.

A picture showing a rotary cutter, acrylic ruler, self-healing cutting mat and patterned fabric

Use your KAI rotary cutter, Sew Easy ruler and Unique cutting mat to make your binding strips.

To make your binding measure the circumference of your quilt. The measurement all the way around the outer edge of your quilt. For this example: 78 x 80 would be 78 + 78 + 80 + 80 = 316

Add 15”. This allows for turning the corners on your quilt. 316 + 15 = 331”

Cut the binding strips from binding fabric at 2½” wide x the width of fabric, finished edge to finished edge. This will range between 42” and 44” depending on the fabric manufacturer.

Now divide your quilt circumference by 40… 331 / 40 = 8.275, so 9 strips.

Attach strips together using a diagonal seam and set your sewing machine to a slightly smaller stitch length, like a 2.0.

A picture showing a close up binding strips being sewn together at a 45° angle

Sew your binding strips together at a 45° angle.

Attach strips together using a diagonal seam and press using your Oliso iron.

Next, trim the excess fabric. You can use your rotary cutter and ruler for this but I prefer to use my KAI 1000 Dressmakers’ Shears 8½”, less chance I’ll accidentally cut through the remaining binding, it has happened before!

A picture showing a close up of quilt binding and KAI scissors

Trim the excess fabric from your binding with your KAI scissors

Next press length of binding in half; take one end of the binding and make a 45” fold, press and trim on the pressing line and fold again to make a ¼” fold.

A picture showing a close up of an Oliso iron and quilt binding made from Hoffmans Garden State of Mind

Your Oliso iron will make creating your own quilt binding simple and easy

Place the raw edge of the binding along the raw edge of your quilt, pin the start of the binding, the one with the 45° cut and fold and add a few more pins along the starting edge.

Begin sewing at least 6” away from the start of the binding strip and make mitered corners. You can find more details about how to sew on the quilt binding and create mitered corners in my Mid Mod Shoofly Quilt post on QUILTsocial.

Press the entire edge of the quilt after you have completed your binding.

A picture showing an applique quilt top

Quilt top before quilting

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my quilt design process from drawing inspiration from nature to expressing it in a quilt top and the many quilting notions that helped to make possible. Again, I would love to see how you interpreted this pattern too. You can find me @iamgingerq on Instagram and you can use the hashtag #TheSewGoesOn and #summermagicquilt.

Until next time!

A picture showing a close up floral patterned and tone on tone quilting cottons

Hoffmans 24/7 Linen and Garden State of Mind fabrics

This is part 5 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 4: Odif 505: instrumental in the composition of your quilt design

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