Binding Tutorial



Today we are going to talk about binding! I love binding so much, it's fun to make and I love being able to sit down on the couch and hand stitch the binding to complete my quilt! Let's get started...

 How much fabric do I need for the binding?

To figure how much fabric needed for binding (based on width  of fabric) take the total number inches of all four sides and add 15” (for turning corners and connecting ends). Take that measurement and divide by 42” (42” is the width of the fabric). That will tell you how many binding strips you will need and the amount of fabric yardage.

  Example: Brick Road Quilt Size: 63” x 78”

                     63 + 63 + 78 + 78 = 282” + 15” = 297” total

                     297 ÷ 42 = 7.071 (round off to next highest number)

                     You will need 8 binding strips

 

                     Cut binding strips 2 ½” (this is your preference, but I like to cut 2 1/2" binding strips, I find that this width works the best)

                     Multiply 2 ½” x 8 (number of strips = 20”)

                     You will need to purchase 5/8 yard (or 22.5”) of binding fabric

 

 Preparing the Binding:

1. Cut 8 – 2 ½” x width of fabric strips. Before moving strips, cut off selvage.
2. Take 7 of the strips and on one short end of each strip, fold a 45° angle towards the right, wrong sides together. Press. (the pressed crease will be your stitching line) See diagram.  

3. Lay one end of the strip not pressed right side up with 1 short end at top.

4. Open up one end of the pressed strips and lay on top (of strip from step 3) right sides together to the left side of the unpressed strip. Pin. Stitch on the 45° pressed line. See diagram.

5. Take the next 45° pressed strip, placing on the unpressed end of the previous sewn strip. Repeat until all strips are sewn to make one continuous strip.

6. Trim off excess fabric ¼” from seam of all sewn strips. Press all seams open. See diagrams.

 

7. Take the long continuous binding strip and fold in half wrong sides together. Press entire strip being careful not to distort.

8. Now you will square the binding strip to 1 1/8” wide by placing the 1 1/8” ruler line on the fold side of the binding strip. Trim off excess binding (raw edge). Do this for entire binding strip.. This is an important step to ensure a straight, even binding. See diagram.

 
Sewing the Binding to the Quilt:

2. Use a walking foot to attach binding to quilt to avoid puckering of quilt layers.
3. Start on front of any side of quilt (not at a corner) by laying binding strip on edge with raw edges of binding on edge of quilt. Start by leaving 6” – 8” of binding as a tail that will be joined at the end. See diagram.

 

4. Sew strip with ¼” seam allowances all the way to the first corner, stopping ¼” short of edge. Cut thread.  See diagram.



5. Fold binding away from quilt to form a 45° miter at corner. Fold binding back over quilt square to the edge going down the next side. See diagram.

6. Start sewing from the edge all the way down to the next corner. Repeat Step 5 for all corners and stop sewing 15” – 20” short of where you started.   See diagram.

 

7. To connect ends, lay binding loose ends down on quilt and fold back leaving ¼” gap between folds. See diagram.

 

Cut one end off at fold on right side. Open out cut piece and lay under other folded side to measure cut line of left strip. To join, open right side strip end and lay right side up. Open left side and fold left end corner over wrong sides together and press as you did in joining strips together. Open, lay on other strip right sides together, pin, and sew on pressed line. Be careful not to get strips twisted. Cut off excess fabric ¼” from seam, press seam open and sew strip in half wrong sides together. Lay strip to edge of quilt and finish sewing down.  See diagrams.

 

Hand Stitching Binding to Back of Quilt:
1.       Hand stitch to back of quilt using hand quilting thread color that matches the binding fabric, being sure not to stitch all the way through to the front of the quilt. I like to stitch every 1/4" or so to secure nicely!

 
 
Ok, that's it for the Brick Road Sew Along!  Now, go finish your quilts and upload them to the Flickr Group to be in the drawing for all of the awesome prizes including: RJR Fabrics and SunFlower Quilts patterns!!


Thank you for participating in the Brick Road Sew Along and I've loved watching your progress and seeing your photos! 
Also, a HUGE thank you to RJR Fabrics for the Cotton Solid Supreme fabrics, they are wonderful to work with and ya'll are great too! :)

 

 



Brick Road Sew Along Week 4

Everyone's blocks are looking great!! You still have plenty of time to catch up if you're behind, or if you're just joining us! This week we will add sashing, borders and assemble our entire quilt top! Let's get started!

 

Cutting the Sashing:

1. From the sashing/border fabric cut:

          20-1 1/2" X WOF (width of fabric) strips.

          2-7" strips

 

2. Take 6- 1 1/2" X WOF and subcut:

           36- 1 1/2" X 7" pieces

 

3. From the 2-7" X WOF strips subcut:

          8-6 3/4" X 7" pieces

 

Sewing the Sashing:

1. Choose 6 blocks and lay them out vertically with the shorter sides on top and bottom. Sew a 1 1/2" X 7" sashing strip to the bottom 7" side of the first block. Press sashing to block. Continue sewing a 1 1/2" X 7" sashing strip to the bottom of the next 4 blocks. *There should be sashing attached to 5 of the 6 blocks.

2. Sew all 6 blocks together in a vertical row along the 7" sides. Press sashings to blocks. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to make a total of 4 vertical rows that measure 7" X 74 1/2".

3. Choose 5 blocks and lay them out vertically with 7" sides on top and bottom. Sew a 1 1/2" X 7" sashing strip to the bottom 7" side of the first block. Press sashing to block. Continue sewing a 1 1/2" X 7" sashing strip to the bottom of the next 3 blocks. *There should be sashing attached to 4 of the 5 blocks.

4. Sew all 5 blocks together vertically along the 7" sides. Press sashing towards blocks. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to make a total of 4 vertical rows that measure 7" X 62".

5. Take a 6 3/4" X 7" piece and attach one to the top and one to the bottom of 1- 7" X 62" vertical row along the 7" side.  Press towards blocks.  Repeat on remaining 7" X 62" vertical rows. You should now have 8- 7" X 74 1/2" rows.

6. Take the 14- 1 1/2" X WOF strips and sew two together along the short 1 1/2" sides to make one continuous strip. Repeat with remaining strips until you have 7- 1 1/2" X 84" strips. (Be sure to cut the selvedges off first)

7. Measure all rows and cut 7- 1 1/2" sashing strips to that measurement. (Should be around 74 1/2") As long as your rows are all the same size, it doesn't matter if your measurement is a little off from mine, but it should be close to 74 1/2".

8. Lay out the rows alternating as shown.

9. Sew a 1 1/2" sashing strip to the RIGHT side of rows 1-7. Press to sashing strip.

    

10. Sew vertical rows 1-4 together.

11. Sew vertical rows 5-8 together.

12. Sew all rows together from steps 10 & 11.

Outer Border:
1. Cutting the border fabric, cut 7- 2 1/2" X WOF strips.
2. Take one 2 1/2" strip and cut in half. Sew one half along the short 2 1/2" end of 2 WOF strips. You will now have 2- 2 1/2" X 63" strips.
3.Measure the center width of the quilt top and cut two strips to that measurement. Sew top and bottom strips on. Press to border.

4. Sew 2 strips together along the short 2 1/2" ends. Measure center length of the quilt top and cut strip to that measurement. Repeat with 2 more strips.  Sew one strip to each side of the quilt and press to border.

 

And now your quilt top is done! I'm sure they look awesome! I can't wait to see all of the tops so don't forget to upload photos to my Flickr Group!

 

Here is the rest of the schedule...see you next week for backing!

 

Week 5-May 6th: Prepare Backing/Basting

Week 6-May 13th: Quilting/Binding

Week 7-May 20th: Winners Announced

 

Also, be sure to check out my Mirror Ball Dot Blog Hop Post HERE for a chance to win some fabric!

 



Brick Road Sew Along-Week 3!

Ok guys, how are we doing on our cutting? I love seeing the progress photos in the Flickr group, don't forget to add yours! Today starts week 3, so halfway there and let's get started!!

Block Assembly
1. Take 1-5" X 10" rectangle and sew a 1 1/2" X 5" piece to each 5" side of the rectangle. Press towards outer fabrics.

 

 

2 Sew a 1 1/2" X 12" piece to each 12" side of the rectangle. Press towards outer fabrics. Repeat until you have all 45 mixed blocks. Square blocks to 7" X 12"

 

 

*You will only need 44 blocks to complete the quilt top, you can use the extra block on the back or use it for a label for your quilt!

 



That's it for this week! I can't wait to see ya'll's finished blocks!  How is everyone doing?

Here is the schedule for the following weeks:

Week 4-April 29^th: Sashing/Borders/Top Assembly

Week 5-May 6th: Prepare Backing/Basting

Week 6-May 13th: Quilting/Binding

Week 7-May 20th: Winners Announced

 

Next week we will add the sashing and borders...I told ya'll this quilt comes together fast! See ya next week!



Brick Road Sew Along Week 2: Block Cutting/Block Arranging

Do you have your fabrics picked out yet? We are going to start cutting our Fat Quarters (FQ) this week!! Don't forget to upload photos to our Flickr Group of your progress, I LOVE seeing them! Also, if you're on Instagram, #brickroadsewalong for your photos!

 

Ok, let's get cutting!!

 

Directions: Making the Blocks:

 

Cut all FQ as follows:

1. Cutting along the 18" side of the FQ, cut:

     6-1 1/2" X 18" strips

     1-10" X 18 strip

 

2. Subcut:

     6- 1 1/2" X 12" pieces

     6- 1 1/2" X 5" pieces

     3- 5" X 10" rectangles

 



 

 

Here are my lovely RJR Cotton Solid Supreme cut pieces stacks: (I just love seeing the fabrics in color order!)

 

Arranging the blocks:

-You will mix and match the 1 1/2" pieces with the 5" X 10" rectangles. You need 2-1 1/2" X 5" and 2-1 1/2" X 12" of the same fabric border pieces and 1-5" X 10" of a different fabric rectangle. The border pieces will be a different color fabric than the center rectangle. Group them together until all rectangles have border fabrics as desired.

 



 

 

That's it for this week! Cut all of your FQs and arrange them in block sets to get ready to sew them together next week! Again, don't forget to upload progress pictures to the Flickr Group to share with everyone and see you next week!!

 

Here is the schedule from next week on:

Week 3-April 22^nd: Block Assembly

Week 4-April 29^th: Sashing/Borders/Top Assembly

Week 5-May 6^th: Prepare Backing/Basting

Week 6-May 13^th: Quilting/Binding

Week 7-May 20^th: Winners Announced

More quilts and my cutie!

I wanted to share two more quilts that I've been working on.  The first on was a quilt I made for a craft fair back in November.  It was a simple quilt so I decided to do a lot of fun quilting on it! I'm pretty sure it took me longer to quilt it than piece it!

 

close up of quilting

 

backing

 

The second quilt was very special for me to make.  My husband's best friend's Aunt (still with me?) was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.  I'm on the board with MD Anderson quilt auction and we raise money/auction quilts for women's cancer research.  Until now, it never touched me so close to home!  She's started her treatments and during those two hour treatments at the hospital she gets cold.  What better way to stay warm than a new quilt!  I whipped this one up for her and gave it to her last weekend! We love you P, and continually pray for you everyday; your strength is inspiring!

 

close up of the quilting

 

backing

 

On a brighter note, my not so little boy turned one last month!!! I can't believe how much he's changed since those first photos of him!  Top photo he was 5 days old and bottom photo he was one year old!

 

Happy Monday, and have a great week!

brother quilts!

Back in August 2011,  a good friend of mine asked me to make a quilt for her cousin who was having a little boy.  She told me the colors where lime green and bright blues with an animal theme.  This is what I came up with for Ezekiel William:

 

Now skip to January 2013 and she asked me to make a new quilt with the same colors and theme for that little boy's new baby brother!  How fun! Here is what I came up with for Elijah Wayne:

 

What do ya'll think, do they look like quilts for brothers?  I love how they turned out and had tons of fun making them!!

 

Oh yes, and if the mother of these boys reads this, I wouldn't mind a cute photo emailed to me of the cute boys and their quilts ;) wink wink!



 

Hope ya'll have a great Friday!