Adding more quilting after binding?
 

I can hear the gasps of horror already :eek: I've just put the binding on a quilt and am wondering if it needed some more lines of quilting. Can I go back and add them before I wash the quilt? I've found some online discussion that suggests that though this is - ahem - an unconventional thing to do, it's not unheard of or impossible. Would be interested to know what people think.

I've done that a time or two. Turned out ok, in fact the friend I made the quilt for said it looked good to her.

No gasping here, I've done it. All you need to do is be careful where and how you start and stop your stitching lines. I assume you mean machine quilting?

No gasp of horror here ......... I've added quilting with no problems.

Gasp!! (Just kidding) I've done it, it worked out well. As jokir44 said, you just have to be a bit more careful where you stop and start, because you can't hide it in the binding.

Your quilt, can if you want to.

Hey your quilt, whatever you want to do.

Yes, I was thinking that - but then realised that those lines stop at the border anyway, so I just have to be as careful as I was first time round.

I've Just wanted to be sure it wouldn't cause some major problem I hadn't thought of.

I have done that at least three different times. No problem, in fact I think having the binding there gave it some stability the same way the pins do.

When I was researching this earlier, I found a blog post by someone who says that she does some stitch-in-the-ditch quilting, then binds the quilt, then continues with the quilting, for this very reason. It also means she's trimmed her batting and backing, any reduction in size being helpful when using a domestic sewing machine.

Thankyou for all the replies. I'm quite surprised and intrigued - till I looked at my finished quilt this afternoon, decided I hadn't done enough quilting on it and asked myself this question, it had never occurred to me that a quilt could be made in any order other than all the quilting followed by binding. I couldn't see any obvious reason why more quilting couldn't be added, and it's great to have had that confirmed here and in other discussions.

Absolutely!

I'm glad you asked the question. And the timing is as if you'd been in my head an hour ago when I was thinking of posing the very same one. In five years of quilting, I've never quilted more after binding, because I was satisfied. But one quilt I have just very recently done (or so I thought) seems to need more --just a little --in the border. I wondered if doing more quilting would cause puckering or any other problem I hadn't thought of.

Yep, getting ready to do that myself since I've decided that one of my quilts needs more quilting in the border for stability.

Rob

It must be something in the air today! I love imagining quilters on different continents all simultaneously deciding, rather belatedly, that their latest quilt needs some more quilting, and thinking "I wonder if..."

If I'm planning to quilt the border with a design that needs to be centered down the length of the border, I'll bind the quilt first, and then quilt the border. That way I can make sure that my design is perfectly centered.

I am in the process of doing that now. I have made my dear hubby a quilt of valor. Used a panel and pieced blocks. He still does not know anything about it. Have a couple of the pieced blocks to echo stitch and the panel blocks to do highlighting stitching on, it is coming along wonderfully.

Been there, done that. Quilt didn't explode, catch on fire, or self-destruct :thumbup:

I do it all the time too. In that respect, a quilt is never "done"... ;)

Yes. The only quilts I've ever had shift at all after pinning had fleece backs. No reason you can't do it with a fabric back.

some times we dont quilt with even density, and after binding a tiny mound appears. Adding some more quilting stitches tames that mound flat.

So I've done it - added several more lines of quilting, and what looked like a rumpled, creased failure last night is now a quilt that I like both look and feel of. It's now washed and pegged out on the line - the weather today is providing me with a natural tumble dryer, as it's very warm and breezy.

This has been a useful learning experience: it was so much easier to do the extra quilting, with the quilt completely stable and with no pins in it. As I was using a standard domestic sewing machine, it also made a difference to have lost the 4in or so of backing and batting that had been trimmed off each side. And my batting shed slightly, so I was glad to have it out of the way and not leaving fluff on the quilt. I think I'll try doing this again, deliberately next time - do enough basic quilting to stabilise the quilt, then add the binding before finishing the quilting, especially if I want to add any more elaborate flourishes.

Thanks for all the help!

I have done this many times. I had no problems. I have especially done this on vintage quilts where the stitching has come loose. I did read a famous quilter, maybe Trudie Hughes ?, who says she puts the binding on before quilting. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I always add my binding before I machine quilt the outer border....that way I know exactly where the center of the border is to place my design.

I have done it several times. Just be very careful when approaching the edges.

I put the binding on a quilt without any quilting in the center. It was glued with washable school glue, so it wasn't going anywhere.

The only problem with a glued quilt is that the edges may become loosened while working on the center. So I always try to stabilize the edges before I quilt the inside. This time I just finished it all up before starting on the center. Worked beautifully.

YES, YES, YES....this can be done and has been done!!! A few times I have finished quilting something and then I see a "spot" that I "missed"...oops....I just put the quilt back on the frame (I am a longarmer) and quilt the spot that I had missed. Ellen

Annesthreads, please take a picture (or 3 or 4--we like distant and close-up ones!) and post it for us, backing and all!

I do this almost all of the time. After is secure it (frequently Elmer's school glue) I do ditch stitching around all of the squares. Then I trim it and bind it because I know that it is not going to shift on me because of the glue and the stitching. It is very much easier to handle as I quilt without all that excess stuff around the edges. Never had a problem. I am one who ties knots and buries threads.

Will do - am going to take photos tomorrow

Finish the binding in order to centre the border quilting? How genius is that? You have no idea how I've agonized over a border on one quilt I'm working on! Now I know what to do! Thanks! Watson

OK, here are the photos. I added the second row of quilting on the plain blocks after binding the quilt.

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Ok I have been machine quilting for 20 yrs. I often quilt just enough to hold the quilt together then put the binding on before finishing the quilting. That gets all the excess out of the way. All is done own my Bernina 1130

I have a friend who does no quilting at all on her quilts till after she has them bound.
She is a hand quilter though.
Robin in TX

I did it and it worked out really well. I'd rather do it before binding, but if it needs it, it needs it.