QUILTsocial | Issue 07

The biggest beef I have about binding
is that most people stitch their binding
to the quilt top with a quarter inch seam.
If you use 2½" binding strips, this means
you're going to have "empty" binding
that feels limp and thin or your binding
will not be even on the front and the
back.
You can see in the picture below, I use
the edge of that opening in the Straight
Stitch Foot as my guide for the seam
allowance. This ends up giving me about
a ³∕₈" seam allowance and when I pull
that binding to the back of the quilt and
hand stitch it in place, that binding is
completely full of quilt and feels nice
and firm.
Don't tell anyone I told you this, but I
always check out the binding to see how
it was sewn on! Again – there's nothing
wrong if you use a ¼" seam, but find a
quilt that is done in both styles and then
ask yourself – which one do you like the
best? Then you decide if you want to do
this for your quilts.
Sewing the binding to the front of the quilt using
the Dual Feed Foot
There are also guides on the Changeable
Straight Stitch Foot that help me know
where to stop at the corner. Very handy if
you need it!
I used the Interchangeable Dual
Feed Foot but this time, I used the
Changeable Zigzag Foot. I didn't
find a difference in using either of the
interchangeable feet for this first part.
You can see in the picture, that I'm
using the edge of that opening in the
Changeable Zigzag Foot as the guide for
the seam.
Sewing the binding to the BACK of the quilt
Let's talk about thread color!
Reluctantly, I had to learn how to sew
bindings this way because at work we
often have very tight deadlines to get
quilts ready and there's no time for hand
stitching. Since that first quilt, I've done
several more (including one of mine-
ACK!). I'm still perfecting this technique
but I'll share with you what I have
discovered so far.
Thread color is extremely important.
When initially sewing the binding the
first time, I find it helpful to use a bobbin
thread that matches the color of the
quilt top. It doesn't matter what color
you use on top.
When I sew the binding on the front of
the quilt, I use invisible thread on the top
and use thread that matches the binding
in the bobbin.
In this case, I use my size 80/12 needle
that I use for piecing. That needle has to
go through a lot of layers and the smaller
needle may end up breaking or bending.
While I've seen people use a lot of
different decorative stitches for this step,
I like to use a blanket stitch (D:3) which
is found in the D Menu – Quilt Stitches
on the Sapphire 960Q.
You'll notice in the first picture below
that the default setting of this stitch
has the zags to the left. I want the zags
to go to the right. That's an easy fix on
the Sapphire 960Q when I hit the Mirror
Side-to-Side function. Then I change
the stitch width to 1.5 and the length
to 3.5. You can see in the second photo
the changes I made from the default
settings.
I love being able to see the way the
stitch will stitch out on the screen.
Default settings for Stitch D:3
Using the red guidelines on the Straight Stitch
Foot at the corner
Method 2: Machine stitching the
binding to the back of the quilt
The first step is to prep the binding
the same way you would to stitch the
binding down by hand.
This time, when you machine stitch the
binding to the quilt, you're going to
stitch the binding to the BACK of the
quilt. Turn the corners, do the final join –
everything is the same.
Invisible thread for the top and thread that
matches the binding in the bobbin
Setting up the sewing machine
Normally when I use invisible thread,
I change the needle to a small size
because the invisible thread is very fine.
The modified settings for Stitch D:3
Q
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UILTsocial
| issue 7 49