Anne Needs A Break
 

....Or maybe a big cup coffee. While finishing up a Christmas surprise for my sister, I made a boo-boo. The binding was from moderate pieces, and I knew that I would have to sew a couple of lengths together. Okay, no problem. I've done that before. But I've never done this before! I got ready to pin it to the side of the quilt and realized that I had a circle. I had sewn all the ends together. (smacks forehead with palm of hand) :-)

LOL, that is so funny. I recently cut some binding strips and for some reason cut off the folds so now instead of just one join I will have four.

I had some old fabric not particularly fond of so made a binding for whatever. Sewed wrong sides to right sides. Face palm here but got the sewing machine motivation back a little.

Wouldn't it be funny if the circle was exactly the right size for the quilt?

I have developed a method for sewing the strips together that works for me. I work on my mat and pin them while flat (angled seams, of course). I always had some seams on the top of the binding strip and some on the bottom when sewing strips together that were the same on both sides. Too much frustration!

Oh well-we are all known for some kind of crazy things that we have done in sewing. Mine is that I am in a hurry to get the quilt done and forget to add the last block!!!!

Singing: Will the circle be unbroken..... That was a funny story. I thought you had done what I did with my last batch. Half of it was joined with the seams on the wrong side. It was an easy fix but annoying nonetheless.

he,he. I've sewn many pieces of binding together and you would think I'd not make a mistake. but yesterday i laid one piece down on the bed of the sewing machine, laid another on top and sewed. Wrong way. did the diagonal the wrong way. sigh. rip, rip. lay it out exactly as before but sew the other diagonal. done. So i do feel for you. your's was much more funny though!!!

Thank heavens it was an easy fix. Just annoying. :-) When I first started quilting I joined the binding with straight seams. Then after watching a few episodes of "Simply Quilts" I learned the joys of the diagonal joining. So easy, but it seemed half the time I was making the diagonals going different directions.... It was driving me crazy, how could I not remember from one piece to the next how it was suppose to go? Guess we all get in a hurry and try to go too fast. Now if I could just get down connecting the two ends when sewing it on to the quilt I will be very happy.

That's funny. Did it fit?

Sometimes there is that complete "mental block" and you just have to walk away and come back later then it is very obvious.

Time for a nice adult beverage and go back to it tomorrow! BTDT.

We all have "those" days. I overlap, then trim to the width of the binding....all fits together great...right? No...not if you cut off the width from both sides!! Then you rip, and are glad you have enough binding to piece it!

LOL did the same exact thing on Thurs! In too much of a rush.

I have done far more silly things than this.....usually when I'm rushed or trying to do too many things at once. :)

That is funny! All of us have done something funny like that. Just glad it is an easy fix & not a big boo boo.

All too funny, especially singing about the circle unbroken. Love this board.

I did a better one on 1 of my pieced bindings, I sewed some of the strips upside down. OOPs that required lots of unsewing.
Sharon in Texas:o

At least you have a sense of humor about it. That helps! Yes, we've all been there.

Simple fix. Just unsew one of the seams. Have done this many times, just a small hitch the getalong.

Well that's funny. Sounds like something I would do.

Tee hee! Glad to know I have company for some of the crazy things that I've done and don't tell anyone about. Oops! Just told you about them.....

It really is nice to know that I am not the only one that periodically has my brain take a vacation and leave me behind. Sometimes that cup of coffee needs to be taken WITH the adult beverage (and a nap is good).

Connecting the tails at the end of Binding
 

I completely agree with you here! I can join the binding strips together but for the life of me and many many tutorials and videos I can not join the beginning and ending tails of the binding easily. I have to watch a video over & over before I feel like I have it done correctly before I cut the excess off. One of the scariest parts for me personally.
Jeri

I have done that SO MANY TIMES and it's so annoying! My fix for that now is to go through and put a mark at each end of the strips on whichever side I've decided is the "back", before I sew them together. That way I don't get them all flipped around.

I've done that! I also sewed a couple on good side to bad side. Silly mistakes, easily fixed. Thank goodness.

Your problem is my problem, too! I have learned to fudge the join, though, and no one has noticed. Or maybe they noticed but don't care!!!

Quiltingcandy and oldtisme... I always hated the final join as well. Just found Sharon Schamber's binding video. She glues the final join together before sewing. Nothing moves and it turns out right every time. I have learned a lot from her videos. (On YouTube).

Jenny Doan, Missouri Star Quilt Company, demonstrates joining the final strips on The Ultimate Quilt Binding Tutorial -- toward the end of that tutorial, she tells (and demonstrates) how to join the final seams of your binding so that it will always fit. I still make mistakes -- I always will because I'm human -- just like all the rest of you. I sometimes get furious at myself when I make a mistake, but getting furious doesn't accomplish anything. We have to just laugh, back up a step and fix the problem!