Does anyone know if there's a way to bind an unwashed flannel quilt with satin ribbon? Do I have to wash my quilted, un-bound project BEFORE applying the binding? I'm fairly new to quilting and I don't wash any of my fabrics or batting before starting and it's worked fine. I just don't know if the satin ribbon would shrink at all, or if I can use it at all. Any one with answers? Thanks!

I don't know about the ribbon, but flannel shrinks like mad! I've never seen the (poly) satin shrink, but when the flannel does, it will pucker the binding.

I agree with Moonpi. Wash the quilt first. You will be dissapointed when the flannel shrinks and the binding doesn't.

I made a baby one recently, washed the flannel and applied the silky blanket binding. That worked great. Hope this helps. The blanket was then washed by the mom before baby used it.

Thanks Guys! Does anyone know of a reason I can't wash an unbound quilt? I would think it shouldn't fall apart as long as it's well quilted, right? And quilt it really close to the edges to hold it? I knew the flannel would shrink, but I wasn't sure about the ribbon. I appreciate the help so far!

I have a wonderful friend who teaches nationally and she always washes her quilts and blocks them before putting on the binding. She says it helps keep it square. Personally, I've never tried it. I figure since I wash my fabric beforehand and I'm careful not to stretch the fabric when piecing I shouldn't need too, or at least I haven't yet. It works for her and she doesn't seem to have an issue with it unraveling or anything. I think I'd wash it on delicate though, just to make sure.

If you try it, let us know how it works and what you think of doing it that way.

You can alwayse do a narrow zig zag stitch around the edges before washing. You may need to re-square up your quilt after washing if you don't want to block it while it is still damp

I always use the same fabric thats in the quilt to make my binding...so no problem

I would definitely wash it before binding. Flannel shrinks like mad. It's the only fabric I prewash.

Me too. I'm wondering if silk ribbon will be too slick to handle as binding.

It should work after all I have a few store bought ones that have the silky binding on the ends.

Billy

That would work.

Or even a wide zig-zag - (just so it's narrower than the binding you plan to put on)

What is the satin ribbon made of?

I have used satin ribbon to bind baby quilts. It works well, and the baby loves the difference in texture. Good idea :thumbup:

zigzag the edge of the quilt before washing, and definitely wash it before binding.

Just for kicks - measure the quilt before and after washing - let us know what happens - if anything.

It's a poly "satin" ribbon, 1.5 inches wide like I would have cut my binding fabric. Thanks for the idea!

Will do, I'm also curious how much it will shrink. This is my first time working with flannel and it's been such a PAIN!

What is "blocking?" I'm sure I'll hate myself for a stupid question, but several people have mentioned it and I'm not sure on the meaning. Is it just squaring up my quilt? Or is there more to it? Thanks!

After you wash the quilt and it is still damp, you lay down a sheet on your carpet and put the damp quilt on top of it. Then you can block it (which means you are going to straighten and square it up) by pinning it to your carpet. I put the pins in at a angle. Then I put a fan blowing on it to dry.

I usually have to use a fan as well. Just be sure to measure it through the middle, both vertical and horizontal. You will know it is square when you can measure on the diagnal, from one corner to the other (like a big X on the quilt) and both measurements come out the same.

I found this explanation from Google - http://www.quiltuniversity.com/squaring_up.htm

Depending on how much use the blanket gets,keep in mind that the satin binding may wear out long before the flannel and may need to be replaced. The packaged bindings are more durable than a regular 'ribbon'.

To make it easier to work with next time, I recommend prewashing and drying flannel *twice*, then heavily starching it before you cut. Starch stabilizes flannel and keeps the edges from stretching out of shape as you sew pieces together. To starch, I mix a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water, lay the fabric on my kitchen island and "paint" the strach on using a large wall painting brush, throw the saturated fabric in the dryer, then iron with steam.

If you do all this, you won't have to wash your unbound quilt before applying binding, plus the pieces will be much easier to sew together accurately. Washing the quilt after it is bound removes all the starch.

For those of us who are Celiacs, you don't want to use commercial spray starches. Instead, cook up a bunch of rice, but make sure there is a TON of water. You don't need to really cook the rice all the way. What you want is for the rice to release the starch into the water. Usually I just cook it until the water turns milky colored. Strain out the rice and once the rice water cools, poor it into a large tub. Then you simply soak your large pieces of fabric in them and hang them to dry. It's a bit of a pain in the neck but it works. You can also pour this into a spray bottle to spritz your fabrics with as you are working with them.

I had no idea that starch would bother someone that has celiac disease.
Thanks for the info.

It's one of those things we normally don't think about but I sure get sick when I use it, which is sad because I LOVE spray starch!!!!! I still have a bottle and will use it in classes or whatnot, but when it runs out I'm not buying any more. The only problem sometimes with the spritzer bottle is that the rice starch can clog it up. :roll: I haven't discovered a solution for that yet. If anyone else has any ideas to help I would certainly love to hear them.

I didn't think of that. Shoot! Guess I'll have to bind it as originally planned. Just was trying to think of different textures to use. Flannel binding will save the separate washing I guess. Thanks for pointing this out!

I will DEFINITELY wash my flannel next time! I did use spray starch and it didn't seem to do much good. Guess I'll try the painting like you suggest next time. Thanks! I've gotten so many great ideas from one question! :)

I have made numerous baby quilts with flanellette. I always wash first. I also use satin ribbon to bind them, because as armaynes noted, babies like the different textures. I have not had to, (yet), re-bind one, but since the ribbon doesn't involve any hand sewing, I wouldn't hesitate to rebind if needed. I think it would take a lot of washings before it would get to that point.
Patti

There are no stupid questions here, just questions to learn from. We have all been beginners at some point in time.