How 2 Simple Binding Tweaks Measure Up

by Darla Christiansen

I tried two of the Binding Bible’s tips for perfect binding and here’s the verdict.

After reading “The Quilt Binding Bible: 25 Flawless Finishes • Techniques & Troubleshooting” by Marci Baker, it was time to give a couple of her techniques a try. Because oddly enough, I was finishing a quilt. Finishing! Gasp. It was exciting. 

Marci is clearly an expert in all manner of things related to quilt bindings. Her book is loaded with tips, color photos and helpful graphics. You can find detailed instructions on just about every kind of binding -- some of which you never knew existed, some of which you do with every quilt.

Baby Steps: Trying Out Two New Things

For years, I’ve used the machine binding tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew. But Marci’s book was so detailed, I decided to test drive a couple of her binding tweaks to see if I’d incorporate them into my own process.

1. Baste First, Trim Second, Bind Third

• How it works: Marci suggests basting around the perimeter of the entire quilt before trimming away excess batting and backing.  Your stitch line will be just 1/8-inch in from the edge of the quilt top. This ensures that basting stitches hide inside your ¼-inch seam allowance once you sew on the binding. The basting is meant to stabilize the quilt’s layers while you’re adding binding.
• How it went: It’s trickier than one might think to sew that close to the edge. Before you know it, you might be sewing off the edge. Otherwise, easy enough.
• The verdict: It’s a keeper. This is something I’ll do again. It took only a few extra minutes and made the binding process somewhat easier because the layers felt secure.
  

2. Do. Not. Press. The Binding Strips

• How it works: Marci gives a stern warning about NOT pressing the binding strip in half lengthwise before sewing it to the quilt. It sounds a little bit wrong, but her argument is that unpressed binding allows for slightly more binding fabric to folded over to the back, “therefore a pressed crease in the middle does not fall where needed.”
• How it went: Folding the binding, and simultaneously lining it up with the quilt edge, all while sewing, felt a tiny bit unwieldy. A little like the wild west of binding but toward the Little House on the Prairie side of things.
• The verdict: Probably not. It didn’t make enough difference to convince me to change my ironing ways. Though it might be worth doing if you have a skinny binding, or if you need that extra thread’s width. Personally, I like the sharply ironed crease, and it seems a bit more manageable to work with.
  

above left: Unpressed binding has slightly more give once it's folded over to the back

above right: Binding pressed to a crisp edge

 

A Couple of Other Steps in the Process Worth Noting

Foolproof Joining

There are several ways you can join strips to get a continual binding. It essentially disguises where your binding started and stopped. 

Marci’s tip that I found particularly useful is her “foolproof” method for joining the ends. Instead of measuring or gluing, she asks you to find the magic points where you can miter the strips. I made a quick finger press,  stitched, and it was indeed pretty foolproof. You can watch how she does it here: Quilt Binding: Joining Ends.

A Tale of Two Corners

On one corner, I tried Marci’s corner technique and then on a different corner did my usual process from Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner. Allison’s tutorial and technique are my tried and true for good reason. This reliable process results in nice corners nearly every time. 

“Nearly” because, as Marci points out, sometimes there is too much fabric and whatnot squished into the fold, making for a rounded corner. Not something a quilt judge wants to see (if that matters to you), but aside from that, it’s ever so satisfying when the corner is perfect.

I can’t say exactly what tiny mis-step I made using Marci’s technique, and couldn’t this happen on any given day if one extra stitch gets involved? The beauty of the Binding Bible is that includes diagnostics for sorting all of this out.

Find Your Groove

Let’s face it, binding is essentially the same process, but everyone has their little tweaks. My friend Jeri likes one that involves a glue stick. Linda expertly eyeballs the corner miter when she sews it on. Gwen likes finishing with hand stitching. You get it.

The real key to quilt binding happiness is to find what works best for you, and what gives you an end result that you’re happy with. 

Happy sewing!