Getting In a Bind

There are so many different ways to do binding! It can be part of your backing fabric, pulled over the front and folded. It can be a single thickness strip, sewn on, not very differently than the method I describe below, and then folded over the quilt, and then folded again and sewn on. 

There is no wrong way, there are only preferred ways to do things when it comes to quilting, and this is the way I prefer. It's called French Fold binding. I have found it one of the easier methods, for me anyway. 

I start with 2-2½" strips, though it can be as wide as multiple inches, if that's how you would like to make it. 

Measure your quilt sides, top and bottom to know how long your binding strip should be. Add 6-12 inches to that total, to give you some space for any issues that might arise. I don't have any photos of the 'connecting' of the two ends on the quilt, I will have to get some with my next project. However, leave several inches unsewn between the two ends of the binding. Laying them in place, put the right sides together (you should have that extra fabric here, to make this work) pin where a seam would occur. Pull the extra fabric away, and sew that seam, then lay the fabric back along the quilt and sew it down.

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  Sew your strips into a continuous strip.

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  Iron it straight, then fold and iron again.

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  Pin to the edge of your quilt. Trim or do it later.

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  Starting in the center, sew a ¼" seam, but leave a couple inches unsewn. Sew to a couple inches from the end.*

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  Trim quilt to the ¼" seam, fold over and pin.

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  Sew just over the lower edge of binding, on quilt top.

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  I like to include some information in my binding, but that's just me...

Wild Bird Half-Square Triangle Throw

This is another easy quilt, with only 2 different squares to make. A fussy-cut square block and half-square triangle block. I made mine with squares of birds, and surrounded those with a star like set of half-square triangles. The instructions for those are at the bottom.

I used green as my second fabric around my squares, and then different blues for every row of the second set of half-square triangles. You can see the colors in the image. 

Feature Fabric (birds here): 4½" squares (finishes 4" squares)
Colored Half-Square triangles: 4½" (finishes 4" squares)
  Green:          ½ yd. at 44”
  Blues:           ¼ yd. at 44” each
  4 other colors: ¼ yd. at 44” each
Border:             ½ yd. at 44”
Backing:         1¾ yd. x 1¾ yd. (2¼ - 2½ yds)

Here's how you make it:

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  Cut out your feature square and 'test' colors.

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  Here you can see 2 sets of different color half-square triangles.

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  Half-square triangles begin as two 10 blocks, with a cross and a square drawn on one.

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  Sew blocks into rows. Iron.

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  And then sew the rows together. Ironing all the way!

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  I tested out border fabrics

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  Cut border it into 2½" strips

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  Sew on the border, make the sandwich and quilt the top

Making half-square triangles:

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  Two blocks with right sides together, draw a centered cross, and then angled lines

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  Sew ¼" from both sides of the angled lines, then cut along the lines 

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  Along the cross lines too, to make 8 half-square triangles.

Holiday Themed Throws

This is a fun, easy quilt, made of only 2 different squares. I made it of Holiday colors and fabrics, but it doesn't have to be, it can be made of any colors and fabrics for any occasion or non-occasion!

Here's what you will need, minimum for 3 x 3 block quilt (I always use more than the minimum):

For Blocks (3 x 3):
10 9½" "plain" blocks
10 9½" colored blocks
28 2" x 12" "plain" strips
28 2" x 12" colored strips

Border & Binding:
1 yd border fabric
½ yd. binding fabric

Samples of this quilt I have created:

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  I made 2, this one is 3 1/2 blocks by 3 blocks

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  This quilt is 4 blocks by 4 blocks

And here's how I made them!

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  It's only 2 squares, a half-square triangle, and a four-square

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  Half-square triangle, start with 2 9-9 1/2" colored and plain square. 

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  Sew 1/4" on both sides of angled line, then cut through all the drawn lines

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  Trim closed as triangle, or open as square. You want the squares to be 3 1/2".

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  Iron! Always iron. First the closed triangle, then open to a square.

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  Stack them neatly, and move on to the four-square.

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  Starting with 2" strips, sew them right sides together.

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  Taking the 2" sets, nest 2 sets, and sew.

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  I chain stitch mine, non-stop, one after the other.

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  Iron, always iron. You can see the nested seams here.

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  This is important. Sew half-square and four-square like this.

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  Iron! The dark square should be at the tip of the white half.

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  You will then put 2 of these sets together, like this

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  And iron! First the folded back, then open.

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  Four sets makes one block! Put the blocks together in strips.

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  Sew the strips together, and you are on to the borders.

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  You can see how different borders make it look.

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  Once the border is on, lay your smoothed backing, batting and quilt top on a flat surface, and begin pinning.

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  Once it's pin together, gently flip it, and smooth out the wrinkles, repinning (the front pins, from underneath, taking care.)

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  Once it's smooth, with no wrinkles, gently flip it back to the front.

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  And smooth out the front wrinkles, where pinning upside-down skewed it a little.

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  Once it's smooth, add more pins! You don't want it to move.

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  Then it's time to top-stitch, to quilt this blanket together.

Irish Chain Quilts

My 10 Set Blocks Irish Chain Quilt in Red, White, Blue and Gold

The Irish Chain is probably one of the easiest quilts to do for a first time quilter. All the lines are straight, and yet the design is complex. Below I have included the 'how to' in both gray scale (to make it easy to select different colors for your quilt, and match them to the graphs) and the colors photographed to the left.

Once you have selected your colors, you will want to start creating 2½" strips. For a 4 color quilt like the one here, for 3 sets of blocks (one plain colored and one multiple in each set) you will need the following. Once assembled, the strip sets will be cut into 2 1/2" strip sets. These are for exact measurements, I always get a bit extra, just in case:

4-color quilt:                   For 3 sets of blocks           Multi-color quilt            For 3 sets of blocks

    Color A: 103”x2.5” – 1 yd. at 44”                         Color A: 103”x2.5”                – 1 yd. at 44”

    Color B: 35”x2.5”   – ½ yd. at 44”                         Color B, C, D…: 140”x2.5”  – 1 ½ yd. at 44”

    Color C: 55”x2.5”   – ¾ yd. at 44”           

    Color D: 50”x2.5”   – ¾ yd. at 44”                         The blocks end up at 14" each, so 28" for a set.

   

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  Strip set 1, center strip is the plain color (D, C, B, A, B, C, D)

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  Strip set 2, outside strips are the plain color (A, D, C, B, C, D, A)

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  Strip set 3, 3 center strips are the plain color C, D, A, A, A, D, C)

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  Strip set 4, no plain colors here (C, B, C, D, C, B, C)

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  Strip set 5, 5 center strips are the plain color (D, A, A, A, A, A, D)

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  Strip set 6, there are no plain strips, but must NOT match 4 (D, C, B, C, B, C, D)

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  Strip Set 7, all are the plain color (A, A, A, A, A, A, A)

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  Assembled color block Strip Sets: 1, 6, 4, 2, 4, 6, 1

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  Assembled plain block Strip Sets: 3, 5, 7, 7, 7, 5, 3

Now to see those building blocks in color!

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  Strip set 1, center strip is the plain color (D, C, B, A, B, C, D)

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  Strip set 2, outside strips are the plain color (A, D, C, B, C, D, A)

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  Strip set 3, 3 center strips are the plain color (C, D, A, A, A, D, C)

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  Strip set 4, no plain colors here (C, B, C, D, C, B, C)

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  Strip set 5, 5 center strips are the plain color (D, A, A, A, A, A, D)

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  Strip set 6, no plain strips, but must NOT match 4 (D, C, B, C, B, C, D)

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  Strip Set 7, all are plain color (A, A, A, A, A, A, A)

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  Assembled color block: Strip Sets (2½" wide) 1, 6, 4, 2, 4, 6, 1

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  Assembled plain block Strip Sets (2½" wide): 3, 5, 7, 7, 7, 5, 3

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  Nesting your squares keeps your corners sharp, always pin each corner to keep it from moving

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  Each set of blocks should look like this

Now, specifically to my 10 set block quilt...

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  I built it as quarters, not as I used to do, as a full quilt. It fits in and through the sewing machine better this way.

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  Sewing the sides together, and then the top to the bottom, or the other way around, is done after the quilting or top stitching is finished. I will put together instructions for that in the next blog entry.