quilt Archives » Needle's Eye Designs

How to Bind a Quilt

December 7, 2020 Quilting

Following up to my previous post on Around the World Potholder (Pattern #1), this is how to bind that quilt. Binding is essentially finished your artwork – framing it to make it a completed picture. There are many, many ways to finish a quilt. Some are very artsy and others are just quick and efficient. Today, we will just dive into the traditional double fold binding method. Most quilts are finished this way and it is what I would recommend – unless you are doing something artsy. I go over why is this post: Ever struggle with how to bind a quilt?

From a design perspective, I do use the binding as the final framework for a quilt. So, it is best to pick a color that will serve this function well.

Making the Binding

You will need to begin by measuring your quilt. Take the average of 3 measurements for length and width of your quilt.

(Length 1 + Length 2 + Length 3) / 3 = Length

(Width 1 + Width 2 + Width 3) / 3 = Width

Then you will calculate the length of the binding you will need:

(Length x 2) + (Width x 2) + 12 = Binding Length

For smaller quilts like potholders, I have found that replacing the 12 with a 6 works well. Now, you will need to calculate the number of strips you will need:

Binding Length / Width of your Fabric = Number of Strips to Cut

If you are using batiks, the width of your fabric will be 42. For print fabric the width is 40.

Cut your strips with a 2.25 inch width.

Place the strips and to end and sew at a 45 degree angle like depicted in the image below. Repeat this step until all the strips are sewn together.

Trim down seams to have a quarter inch seam allowance.

Iron each of the seams to set and iron the seams to one side or another. Fold the whole strip in half lengthwise and iron.

Fold under one end of your binding by quarter inch and iron it.

Sewing the binding onto your quilt

Align raw edge of your binding to the raw edge of your quilt. Begin in the middle of one of the edge – allowing plenty of space to finish the 2 ends of the binding.

Sew the binding using a scant quarter inch seam allowance (just a hair shy of exactly quarter inch.) When you are a quarter inch away from the edge, fix your seam using a reverse stitch or a fix stitch.

To do the corners you will need to fold 90 degrees from your seam as depicted below.

Next, while maintaining that 45 degree angle fold over again to align the raw edge of the binding to the raw edge of the quilt as depicted below. I like to pin to make sure I maintain the 2 folds.

Begin sewing again a quarter inch from the edge.

Repeat these steps until you have sewn around all the corners.

To finish the binding, align the bottom fold of the end where you began to sew to the edge of your quilt. Like below.

Tuck in the other end of the binding inside the fold of the beginning.

Gently tug on the bottom portion of the binding to ensure there are no “tucks” in it. You can use pins as needed to hold the fabric in place as you complete sewing along this last edge.

The final step is to fold over the edge of the binding to the back of the quilt and hand sew it down using a whip stitch. Every 6th stitch should be repeated in the same spot for durability.

Here are pictures of the back and the front of an over-sized potholder made using the Around the World Potholder (Pattern #1).

If there’s any questions please feel free to email me. 🙂 Binding a quilt for the first time is a little tricky, but once you have done it, it’s easy.

Happy Quilting!

Around the World Potholder (Pattern #1)

October 7, 2020 Quilting, Quilting Projects

The long awaited Around the World potholder pattern as promised from the Beginning Quilting: Supplies post. I decided to split this into 3 posts total: 2 different patterns for a potholder and one for how to do a traditional binding. How to sew on binding is not typically found in most quilt patterns but is needed for all quilts. Therefore, I have decided to separate it out.

Configuring your machine:

Quilting seam allowance is always 1/4 of an inch. This is the distance of the needle to the edge of the fabric. Never set it up to where you are only using one feed dog – you want both feed dogs engaged anytime you sew. If you do not have a 1/4″ setting on your machine typically you want to move your needle all the way to the right.

Sewing machine set to 1/4 in seam allowance

You can also buy a 1/4″ foot for your sewing machine. This is a presser foot that has a guide on it so that your fabric cannot go past it as you sew.

Review your sewing machine’s manual for seam allowance information.

Materials

You will need 5 fat quarters. Fat quarters are cut fatter than long – they are all a quarter yard of fabric.

1 light fabric (Fabric A),
1 contrasting light fabric or a neutral color (for a 2.5 x 2.5 in square) (Fabric B),
2 medium or dark fabric (Fabric C and D),
1 dark fabric (Fabric E)

These are the colors I chose:

Cutting Pieces for the Top of the Potholder:

First square the edge of the fabric. You do this by aligning the selvage edge with a straight line on the ruler and cut the edge be straight. You use this edge cut all other strips from.

(Note: Selvage is the edge on either side of a woven or flat-knitted fabric so finished as to prevent raveling.)

Since this is only a 12.5 x 12.5 potholder, I cut as I sewed.

These are the pieces you will need to cut (Note: the number of strips is based on a fat quarter sized fabric.):

Cut 1, 2.5 x 2.5 in from Fabric B square from the contrasting light fabric
Cut 6, 1.5 strips from Fabric C and then cut the following lengths of fabric: 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10.5, 11.5, 12.5
Cut 5, 1.5 strips from Fabric A and then cut the following length of fabric: 3.5, 4.5, 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5, 10.5, 2 x 11.5
Fabric E is for the binding and Fabric D is for the backing both are cut after the top is done.

You can cut them at the beginning or you can cut them as you go from 1.5 in strips like I did.

I cut 1.5 in strips from Fabrics C and A first. When you cut, align the ruler and cut a whole strip at a time. You will have pieces of fabric left over – quilting is not like building a shelf and wondering why you have spare parts. 😀 Be sure to press down on the ruler. Any sideways pressure could cause the ruler to slide causing a crooked cut that you will need to redo. It’s important that you are precise. An 1/8 of an inch off multiplied over 10 pieces causes your whole quilt to be off by more than an inch.

Piecing

It’s time to build your potholder!!!!

Tips and Tricks:

Square as you go. It’s is a good habit to get into, then you won’t be wondering how to square a larger quilt.
When you iron, press down. Do not slide the iron since it can stretch the fabric.
Keep a spray bottle filled with water or Mary Ellen’s Best Press and spray your top as you iron. This helps keep stretching to a minimum and gives you a better top to sew with.
Use pins to pin the pieces together if you are uncertain about them not shifting or it makes you more comfortable. (Note: Do not run over your pins with the sewing machine. This can ruin the timing of your sewing machine and cause you to need to replace your needle more frequently.)

Step 1

If you haven’t cut all the pieces, then cut the 2.5 in x 2.5 in square from Fabric B and the 1.5 in x 2.5 in rectangle from Fabric C.

Start your seam on a granny. A granny is 2 layers of fabric where you begin and stop sewing when you are piecing. (If you are used to tailoring, this is one big difference from what you are used to. The other is that there is no back-stitching when piecing.)

Take the 2.5 in square and place the 1.5 in x 2.5 in on top such that 2 straight edges are aligned and sew down one edge (Reminder: Use 1/4 inch seam allowance.)

Then using a hot iron, press the seam closed first to set the seam and lastly press it open. You will iron after each seam. Every seam will need to be set and then ironed open.

All piecing steps will build upon the 2.5 in x 2.5 in square.

Step 2

Now cut a 3.5 in section from the 1.5 in strip of Fabric C and sew along the top of the piece created from step 1.

Step 3

Now cut a 3.5 in section from the 1.5 in strip of Fabric A and sew along the bottom of the piece created from step 2. (Note: Finished Step 3 should result in a piece that ins 3.5 in x 4.5 in. If too big carefully trim to the correct size. This is called “squaring as you go.”)

Step 4

Now cut a 4.5 in section from both Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from step 3 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The resulting assembled piece should be 4.5 in x 5.5 in. If too big carefully trim to correct size.)

Step 5

Cut a 5.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 4 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The piece resulting from completing step 5 is 5.5 in x 6.5 in.)

Step 6

Cut a 6.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 5 as depicted in the image below. (Note: Your quilt top should now be 6.5 in x 7.5 in.)

Step 7

Cut a 7.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 6 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The top is now 7.5 in x 8.5 in. Almost there!!)

Step 8

Cut a 8.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 7 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The size is now 9.5 in x 8.5 in.)

Step 9

Cut a 9.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 8 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The size is now 10.5 in x 9.5 in.)

Step 10

Cut a 10.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 9 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The size is now 11.5 in x 10.5 in.)

Step 11

Cut a 11.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 10 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The size is now 12.5 in x 11.5 in with one more seam to go!!)

Step 12

Cut a 12.5 in section from Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 11 as depicted in the image below. (Note: Your top is now 12.5 in x 12.5 in!! Time for the next phase!)

Layering

Now, it is time to build your sandwich. (I would like an Italian BMT with lettuce please… well, probably, not that kind of sandwich…)

Cut your batting to be 0.5 in to 1 in larger than your quilt top. This means you will need to cut a 13 in to 13.5 in square from your batting of choice. I chose to use Insul-Bright (R) batting. (Note: You can cut it smaller just be sure that it is larger that your top and you can see it all the way around when you place your quilt top on top of the batting.)
Iron the backing fabric smooth.
Now, cut your quilt backing from Fabric D. It should be 0.5 in to 1 in bigger than your batting — 14 in to 14.5 in square in dimensions. (Note: Like the batting, the backing can be cut smaller, but it must be bigger than your batting.)
Layout the backing on a flat surface and tape down the corners so that it will not shift.
Place the batting centered on top of the backing and tape it down. You should see backing fabric all the way around the batting.
Then, place the quilt top centered on top of the batting. Like the batting and the backing fabric, you should see the batting all the way around the top and the backing all the way around the batting.
Use safety pins (preferably 1 in safety pins) to pin the layers of your quilt sandwich together. (Definitely, not edible like an Italian BMT, but satisfying in a non-appetizing way. Please do not try to eat your quilt sandwich.) When you pin, the distance from the each pin from another should be no more that 2 in. As you get more practice with quilting, you can skip this step for small potholders/place mat sized quilts. It is not recommended to skip this step for larger quilts, unless you are using a long arm sewing machine.

(Note: Since I have been quilting for awhile, my layer won’t look quite like yours. I cut bigger than the top not to a specific size. As a results, my cuts are not perfectly straight – which is fine since you will trim all the excess in a final squaring step before finishing.)

Quilting

This is the actual quilting step – sewing all the layers of your sandwich together. For this quilt, we will use a type of quilting called “stitch in the ditch”. Stitch-in-the-ditch is when you sew in the “ditch” caused by the seam.

Tips and Tricks:

If you have a quilting foot, now would be the time to change out the foot on your sewing machine. Refer to your sewing machine’s manual for details on how to do this. (For these smaller quilts, I use a regular foot. If your 1/4 in foot has a guard, you will want to change out your foot.)
Fix the starting and end by sewing in place for 3 stitches.
If you have a needle down setting turn it on. This is a setting some sewing machines have so that when you stop sewing it automatically sinks the needle down. It is a function that really helps when quilting allowing you to turn your quilt without it moving. If your sewing machine does not have this setting then simply use the wheel to sink the needle down before lifting the presser foot to rotate the quilt.

When you start quilting, begin in the center and work your way out. This helps to prevent any odd gathers occurring in your backing as you sew. Pinning your layers together also helps prevent this.

Begin sewing around the center square and work your way around sewing in all the ditches. You do not want more than 2 in x 2 in un-quilted space in any quit. Not enough quilted area insufficiently holds all the layers together and causes more shifting and increases the wear and tear on a quilt.

That, my friends, is how you create a quilt. My next post will be about finishing the quilt, since there are several different ways to finish a quilt.

Until then, happy quilting and enjoy this gorgeous potholder.

XOXO,

Quilt Design

March 2, 2020 Quilting, Thoughts about Quilting

Quilt Design is the second phase of quilting as outlined in my quilting supplies post here. Anything goes with quilt design. Really. Anything. If you want a traditional looking quilt with the quilt blocks, then graph paper and colored pencils/markers (fined tipped) are all you need. There are software and apps (yes, even apps – quilting is so technological now). If you want to go techie, then I have really enjoyed the EQ software. Like with most software, there’s a bit of a learning curve.

If you are well skilled in quilt design and quilt making, then a basic sketch pad and pencil will work.

When you design a quilt the basic rules of composition for art come in to play: contrast, texture, complexity, and unity play their role in artistic composition. (This will be a bit redundant with one of my earlier posts: Quilting Border Designs.)

Quilts are your work of art. When you look at art pieces, ask yourself: “What did you see first?” and “What did you see last?”. Do you think what you noticed and when you noticed it was what the artist intended? All elements of composition should aid in enhancing your quilt.

Color (Contrast)

Light and bright colors pop. You’ll notice these first before the intricacies of darker elements. So, when you look at your quilt what do you see first and what color is it? It what you want people to see first?

Texture (Another form of Contrast)

Movement or items representing movement will always catch the eye first. Use texture to take the eye where you would like it to go. Texture can be with the fabric you use of with the lines you sew in the quilting phase.

Complexity

The complexity of your quilt should be designed to be food for the eyes. Help your viewer stare at your quilt. Contrast, texture, and unity all aid or take away from complexity. Use all these features to lead your audience into the quilt. Use lines and color to help lead your viewer from focal point to focal point, until they have taken in the entirety of the quilt.

Unity

Your “big picture” view of your quilt. Step back, does everything belong? Or is there something you see that just doesn’t fit? This where you see your quilt in it’s entirety. For example, if you are doing an applique of a deer, is the standing on a ground or is it flying? Do you want it to be flying? What about color? If the first color you see the focal point? If it’s not does it lead your eye to the focal point?

Look at my quilt below. Do you see the focal point, or in this case, points?

Yes, if you said black centers then you are correct. Notice how I added very thin black sashing and thing borders that are also black it helps to emphasis the black. Notice the lighter beige between the 2 black borders. Any guesses why I did that? It helped to “frame” the quilt better. Then I changed the directional lines by making a pieced border reinforcing the desire of the eye to the center of the quilt and stopping it with a black binding. Lots of movement in this quilt.

What you think of the next quilt?

For me, it is quite chaotic. The red color is what your eyes see first, then you notice the black. I do not really like the composition of this one – even though it is one that I designed and have received several compliments on it. (I think folks were just being nice. 😉 ) There’s no real focal point – some folks seem to see a butterfly, but I just see chaos. The black binding still helps to stop your eye, but it offers nothing more than that.

Pattern Selection

The biggest mistake new quilters make is choosing a big pattern – one for a queen size quilt. Large quilts are time consuming. (It took me a year to finish my king sized quilt. While I loved it, it still did become a bit tiresome.) When you are starting out, learn the techniques first. It’s harder to quilt a queen sized quilt on a sewing machine at home that it is to quilt a pot holder or a placemat.

For this series I will give you 2 patterns for potholders. You can choose to do one or both or pick your own – just know that my directions will be with my patterns in mind. We will treat them like a quilt, so that you learn all the different phases.

Next time, I will include the patterns and more on the next phase of quilting: Selecting fabric.

Until next time, happy quilting!

Ever struggle with how to bind a quilt?

January 27, 2017 Thoughts about Quilting

I want to take some time to talk about binding. There are several different ways to bind a quilt. Some methods are designed to save time, others not so much. The most popular is the double fold binding method. It’s the way I was taught and has become my method of choice for most of the quilts I’ve made.

The only exceptions are my art quilts and the method used depends on the purpose of the quilt. For art quilts/wall hangings, be creative. That’s my best advice. Art is meant to be, well, artistic. Think about the overall impact you want the quilt to have for the viewer and then think how to “frame” it. The binding is the final “frame” for any quilt – it is your final chance to stop someone’s eye from leaving your quilt. Look at my one of my art quilts below. Notice how the borders and the binding work together. The black border on one side and the black binding on the other side stops your eye; thus, framing the piece.

For utility quilts, I *highly* recommend the double fold method because it is a method designed for durability. By utility quilts I mean quilts used as bedding, baby quilts, lap quilts, or any other type of quilt that you make with the knowledge it will be used. The reason why is best illustrated by the below picture.

This is one of the first quilts I made (approximately 10+ years ago). Sadly, my at the time young puppy got a hold of the quilt and ate a very small hole into the quilt. (I can see a lot of quilters just cringing.) I was upset with her but not for long, because I will have only 10-15 (if I am lucky 15) with my puppy. I will have this quilt for much longer (hole and all) and it will always remind me of my fur baby. I did use this quilt for a time (yes, back on topic!) and, as you can see, the binding wore down. However, the quilt edge is still protected because of that second layer of fabric from the double binding method.

I will provide binding training videos, if people comment a desire for it. There are lots of binding training videos out in cyberspace, as a result, I don’t feel the need to redo what others have already done quite well. However, if my style of writing is something that you find helps you to assimilate data then comment or e-mail me and I’ll see what I can do. 🙂

Until next time and have a fabulous day!

Nelum

The Dilemma with Gorgeous Large Print Fabrics

August 22, 2016 Quilting Fabrics, Thoughts about Quilting

As I was laying out fabrics for my next set of mug rugs, I had set aside this beautiful blue large print fabric along with a couple of complimentary fabrics.

I go through 2 phases of fabrics selection — well most of the time – sometimes 2 phases isn’t enough! The first phase is just colors – selecting a collection of fabrics with colors that would look fabulous together. Next might be several iterations of ironing and laying out the fabrics and taking a close look at the printed designs on it. I need to answer several questions before the fabric is used.

Does the fabric look good in small pieces? (Because, let’s just face the fact that, as a quilter, I cut up fabric to sew it together into a beautiful, harmonious quilt – ultimate goal is harmony in design, color, and texture.)
Will the chosen quilt/block pattern do justice to the fabric?
Will I need to fussy cut to attain the desired end product? If, yes, will fussy cutting add or take away from the fabric, and thusly, to the overall quilt?

For example, look at the above fabric. In its wholeness, it is quite a magnificent piece. Now, imagine it in 2″ x 2″ squares. Each square would look different. Some would have a dark blue background and others a white background. Some would have leafy, flowery curves and others straight lines and geometric shapes.

I could fussy cut it, but then I’d lose the beauty in the parts I elected not to use in the quilt. This fabric screams to be used in a much larger design and, as a result, it was ironed, refolded and placed back into my stash – for now!

Love of batiks

August 17, 2016 Quilting Fabrics, Thoughts about Quilting

I grew up appreciating art and artists. You see, both my parents are artists though now mostly retired: my mom with her sewing and fabric, and my dad with his ink-line drawings. My dad, when he wasn’t helping my mom with the tailoring business, would sit and draw. My parents had a huge appreciation for batiks, because it is a large art form in Sri Lanka. I remember visiting an artist in Sri Lanka that sold batik shirts. This artist used the canting method to make batiks. It is a lengthy process of hand painting designs onto a cloth with wax, dying the fabric, adding wax for the next dye color repeating this process until the batik had the desired colors and patterns.

To this day I love batiks — doesn’t matter if it’s the canting process or the stamping process. When you hold a gem up to the light, remember how it just glows? Well, batiks do that for me. The colors in batik fabrics seems to be so rich that they glow. Also, because it is dying and not printing, the color has a lot of variation, which makes batik fabrics difficult to work with in quilts, but when you get the perfect combination and layout the quilts are just magnificent!

Also, batiks have a higher thread count, largely due to the resin and dyes (more threads holds the resin or dyes better). When you buy sheets, you will notice the higher quality sheets have a higher thread count. Same rules applies to cotton quilting fabrics: higher quality means higher thread count. The higher the quality of the fabrics used in a quilt means the quilt will last longer.

Thus, you now understand my sincere love of batiks. That’s not to say I won’t use printed fabrics but I will always gravitate to my batiks…always.