Do You Know How to Bind a Quilt? by Christine Baker October 31, 2014 written by Christine Baker October 31, 2014 779 Our applique shapes are all secured and look awesome with the Dazzle threads couched along the edge. I’ve never used this technique before but now that I see how easy and effective it is, I think I’ll be using it again in the near future!! So now we just need to finish the table runner off with some nice binding. Do you know how to bind a quilt? Trimming your table runner With the arrangement of leaves that I used, I decided to trim my table runner to 11″ x 25″ but you may decide that yours should be either bigger or smaller – just do what you think looks best. Use your rotary cutter, mat and ruler to trim and square it up. Trimming the excess backing and batting Making our binding If you are making your table runner the same size as mine and using a fat quarter of fabric for your binding, then cut four strips that are 2½” wide along the longest side of the fat quarter. If you’re using yardage then cut 2 strips 2½” x WOF. Cutting the binding strips Sew these strips together using a mitred join. See the photo below if you aren’t sure how to do this. Joining the binding strips with a mitred join Trim off the excess fabric from the back and then iron the seams open. The mitred join and the pieces cut from the back Sewing on the binding Press the long binding strip in half lengthwise with wrong sides together. Sew binding to the front of the table runner, aligning the raw edges of the binding with the raw edges of the cover. Fold the binding to the back of the table runner and pin in place. Sewing the binding to the front of the quilt Pinning the binding to the back of the quilt Why not try out a new stitch? If you like to hand sew your bindings to the back of your quilts, then get out your needle and thread and put a good movie on the TV. But if you are in a hurry or you don’t like to do hand work, then I’m going to show you how to use a decorative stitch to finish sewing your binding. I bet your sewing machine has lots of stitches that you’ve never used before – well here’s your chance! Since the table runner has leaves on it, I decided to use the decorative leaf stitch on my machine. By using a wide decorative stitch you are sure that you catch the back of the binding all of the way around. When you’re sewing on the binding, center your stitching in the ditch between the cover front and the front of the binding so that some of the stitching is done on the quilt top and some is done on the binding. For more decorative stitching ideas see our earlier post this month. Using the leaf stitch to sew on the binding Here is our finished project! The leaf stitch finished off the binding perfectly but took FOREVER to sew. The more complex the design, the longer it will take the machine to stitch it – so glad I wasn’t binding a bed quilt!! The finished tablerunner As you can see from this photo, using the Deco-Bob thread in the bobbin was great for this project! Even the back of the areas that were appliqued do not have a large amount of thread build up. It looks tidy and nicely finished. The back of the quilt with the Deco-Bob thread Moving on to Christmas… Now that my fall project is done and you know how to bind a quilt, I should start thinking about Christmas. Maybe I’ll use my stitch-out sample to make one of the zippered pouches that Elaine showed us how to make on her QUILTsocial blog posts last month. It would probably make a lovely Christmas present for someone!! Hopefully you’ll have your binding done soon and be able to display your finished project in your home or wrap it up for someone for Christmas! Print this page or save as a PDF bindingbinding a quiltbobbin threaddeco bob threadmirage threadmitred jointablerunnertablerunner patternwonderfilwonderfil threads FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditWhatsappTelegramEmail Christine Baker I have been designing and publishing quilt patterns for the last 16 years under the business name Fairfield Road Designs. My patterns range from fusible applique and piecing to felted wool applique and punchneedle. You can see all of patterns on my website www.fairfieldroaddesigns.com. previous post Hip, hip hooray – it’s applique day!! next post Sewing or Housekeeping? YOU MAY ALSO LIKE... Why DecoBob isn’t your average bobbin thread Use Silco thread to add more punch to... When your quilting calls for threads to be... 1 foolproof method for perfect, smooth and clean... Why WonderFil Tutti thread is so good for... How Accent, Mirage and Spagetti threads highlight appliqued... 1 easy way to add a quilt binding,... Using combinations of 100wt, 80wt, 50wt, 12wt threads... Why using Invisafil thread is best for adding... 2 comments Kathy E. February 25, 2015 - 8:23 pm I am one of those whose anxiety goes up with the thought of binding. Thank you for this tutorial and I love the idea of using a decorative stitch to sew it down! No worries of keeping that straight stitch in place. 🙂 Reply Christine Baker March 11, 2015 - 11:04 am I’m glad that you found the tutorial helpful Kathy! I’m one of those people who actually LIKE hand sewing binding, but when I’m in a rush or making something that is going to be washed or handled a lot I always head to those decorative stitches 🙂 Reply Leave a Comment Cancel Reply Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.