Throwback Thursday - Part 2 (Almost)
In last week's post, I shared with you the sad, sad story of my son's quilt - and it's desperate need for a new binding. I didn't find any fabric that would work last weekend, but I did want to put this tutorial together for you.Fortunately, I have plenty of Projects Half done that need bindings done, so I was able to pull the next one in the pile out and create this.
The quilt in question isn't a bed quilt, but a bias binding will work just as well with this wall hanging as anything else. I needed to make the binding for this project, which I hope will come together quickly...so lets get started.
I started with a fat quarter of the binding fabric, which I then squared off to make an 18" square. From there, I cut the square in half diagonally on the bias, so that I had two triangles.
Once the top edges are aligned and pinned, I stitched the triangles together, using a scant quarter edge seam. I used white thread in this example, so that you can see it. From there, take the fabric back to your iron and press the seams open. Your piece should now look like this.
The next step in this process was to begin to mark the width of my bias strips - I like to work with strips that are 2.25" wide. I used my cutting mat to lay the fabric out straight. In this case, I'm using a batik fabric - if I were working with cotton, the fabric would be wrong side up. Using my long ruler, I marked a line using a berol pencil across the fabric at 2.25".
This is bias, and the next step is helpful - draw a 1/4" stitching line across the triangular edges - when you begin to form the tube, this will help with lining the fabric up. Don't give up, you're almost done!
Once the edges are pinned smoothly, and stitched - take your scissors and just follow the line. Once everything is cut, I took the binding to the iron, and pressed it in half all the way across. Now it's just waiting for me to finish the piecing.
One 18" square generated 120" worth of continuous binding - magic!This might seem like an intimidating project, but it's not really.Have a wonderful and safe fourth, and I'll be back on schedule next week with Monday Musings.