quiltingnonie

So I have a quilt 90" x 84" that needs the binding. I have ALWAYS sewn binding to the front side, then hand stitched the back side down. My dilema here is that I really DON'T have the time to handsew the binding because I want to display the quilt next weekend at our local small town fair.

Has anyone ever used Steam-A-Seam 1/4" fusible tape to attach a binding? I have used it on wallhangings, but nothing this big.

Once I tried the machine sewn binding both front & back method, and it turned out horrible. I spent a fortune having this quilt custom quilted and I don't want to screw it up.

Suggestions, dear and smart quilting friends, will be greatly appreciated. :)

Kitsie

How co-incidental! There was a post just today on machine binding. I read it just before I was starting to bind a large quilt! All night I'd been trying to remember where I heard about doing it all by machine. Eureka!! Below is the post and I'm taking a lunch break after doing two sides! Read the part about the Eleanor Burns method!

With pins I don't think you'd need fusing, but your call on that.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-47714-1.htm

quiltingnonie

Thanks,Kitsie. I had already made the binding - cut 2 1/2" wide then folded in half. Think that would still work? Also, do you use a walking foot? Can you still mitre the corners with this method?

Is it raining nonstop up your way today as it is here? I bet there are A LOT of not-so-happy campers out there!

Kitsie

Oh, absolutely to 2 1/2" folded in half. That's what I use. Walking foot YES! I had trimmed the quilt to 1/4" so used the front side sewing line to fold the binding to on the back pinning so it was just 1/16" below the stitching. Works really well! I stopped for lunch after trying a couple of feet!

As usual on this day, I've camped in the rain and cold and when its 90 deg! Happy quilting day! Right now its sunny!! 5 mins ago it was rain & hail!

Have you posted a picture of your avatar quilt? The colors are gorgeous!

quiltingnonie

So you fold the binding to the backside and pin it. Then on the front, you stitch in the ditch. My concern is the stitching catching the binding on the backside EVENLY....not having some of the stitches on the binding and some on the quilt...that would drive me NUTZ :hunf: (My backing is dark in color, the binding light)
If you do a seach for The Wedding Quilt, you will find pictures and the story about my avatar.

Kitsie

Unfortunately I'm doing chocolate brown floral onto bigger chocolate floral with chocolate brown thread, but the back is a stripe so let me see what i can come up with.... OK, not too bad if I chalk stitching lines...I just used pins to hold. Going back to finish!

quiltingnonie

Pretty quilt! Now, what stitching line did you use the chalk for? Sorry I am asking so many questions...but I have to be SURE about this before I attempt it. I think your 2nd pic looks good.

tooMuchFabric

I would stay away from the fusible seams.

You can remove any stitching that you don't like and redo it at any point in the life of the quilt - now, or later.

The fusible is there to stay.

Not a good thing maybe.

craftybear

I started some threads on links for bindings with videos I found online

Kitsie

Thanks Crafty, I'll have a look for them!