binding problem
 

I am helping a friend with her binding. I use Jenny Doan's tutorial with a 2 1/2 inch binding. I have never had a problem when following the instructions on the Missouri Star tutorial-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vCWpxBRs20&t=17s

We have joined all strips of binding fabric with no problem. The binding is all sewn on with no problem. The problem started when joining the final 2 pieces. We have followed the instructions, but every time we join the fabric it is twisted. We are sewing right sides together, just as we did with the rest of the quilt. The length is correct. We have tried wrong sides together, right and wrong, etc. Just no luck.

I appreciate any help. We put it away until tomorrow and figured we would start fresh.

This site is my go to for binding. Very simple instructions with pictures.

http://piraterodgers.com/tutorials/e...ding/index.htm

Yes, that's what I mean. So you are putting wrong sides together? I'll try that in the morning. Whooped tonight. Thank you!

When all else fails, I fold one of the ends under and insert the other side of the binding into the folded end leaving both ends as though it was a finished seam. Then I carefully twist it open and pin where the two joined. This was a rough pinning. I open the two pieces of binding up and try to pin it like it should lay and then double check by refolding and placing back on the material. Sometimes it takes a couple of tries at the pinning. Then I sew...praying that I don't have to rip it. Most times I am good.

It must be right sides together to end up with the seam on the inside of the binding. Wrong sides together will put the seam on the outside, very visible.

When I was an absolute beginner, I used this binding tutorial from Jaybird Quilts and I have always had perfect binding. Every single time.
http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/2010/01...-tutorial.html

this is the part that I can never seem to get right. I cut as required, then use two pins to test it out... one on each side of the fold. Inevitably, it is twisted. So I carefully unpin and untwist the one side, then twist that one more round in the same direction as the untwist. I hope this is helpful. I remember one time I actually got it right the first time and said the reason was a duh moment on my part. But then I couldn't get it right the next time!

My go-to, never-fail is Emerald Meadow's YouTube video. He speaks slowly enough so that I can play the video at the same time that I'm following the steps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BT1pl_IolE
I passed this video along to someone making their first-ever quilt and they did it correctly the first time, also commenting that one could follow right along with Emerald.

This is also my favorite, most straight forward explanation.

That's what I thought. Thanks for clarifying.

This is my favorite as well.

here is a picture and always open up the binding after sewing and check that it fits the quilt BEFORE trimming to 1/4 inch.[ATTACH=CONFIG]570113[/ATTACH]

This video is FANTASTIC! Thank you so much! Problem solved!

Problem solved with this video! Thank you so much!

That's a lot of work. I stick the raw end into the other end, fold over and stitch. Never got a comment about bad joins from a judge. And I have been going back to no miter corners for binding. It looks cleaner with sharp corners.

The Emerald Meadows video is my favourite. The man is an Engineer and he figured it out from an engineering standpoint for his wife to teach it in a class, so he made it really straightforward. His video was the first time the lightbulb went off for me when joining the ends.

Wason

This tutorial has been very helpful for me.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...g-t195224.html

I used this on my last quilt and it worked perfectly! It's going to be my go-to for binding from now on.

Thanks everyone. Emerald Meadow seems to be the consensus. I will be putting that one in my arsenal!

Try this, it should end your twisted problem: https://youtu.be/SqpE3mLqyVM at time of 13:50

This is my method too. She was an active member of the About.com quilting forum when I first started quilting so her bias binding tutorial and this tutorial are the only way I've ever done binding.

Cari

I just went through the same issue when teaching my friend how to put the binding on. We played twister for a while before we had it all going in the right direction.

This is the perfect solution to joining the two ends.

This is the tutorial I use, also. I printed it off several years ago when I was first learning to make quilts. I still have it beside me for every binding that I do. It is so well written and demonstrated, especially where she uses the two different colors for the end join. Really just clicked for me.

No--join by opening the two ends and you will put the RIGHT sides together--google Fons & Porter binding---I've modifed their method so I don't do all that marking--but the concept works great. You will have two tails of about 10" overlapping the gap left (leave about 10 " unsewn--this is crucial otherwise you are going to be wrestling the quilt). Now fold back one side and finger press. Fold back the other tail--leaving a 1/4" gap between the two--this is also crucial! I usually will actually press this with the iron, but you could mark it if you want. Now with the quilt edge laying in front on you and the quilt toward you, open up one side (I always do left hand side) with the Right Side of Fabric up. You will have a pressed in X. Open up the Right hand side, wrong side of fabric toward you (so that the two Right Sides of fabric are together) and center the two pressed in X's just like when you join fabric strips on the diagonal. You will have to bunch up the quilt to get it to meet well--don't worry about this--that's what our stomach's are made to do to help here! I pin like crazy to hold these two X (right sides together) as it' will be awkward under the needle. Sew like you would any diagonal join seam. Now pull the quilt edge straight and your join should flip down correctly. Trim the tail flaps and stitch the binding down . It should be perfect.

This makes it just a little easier if you press your triangle before you start sewing on the binding.

Jenny Doan has a very good lesson on finishing bindings in all of her Block magazines. The only thing I would add to that would be to start with the "Magic Triangle". (I iron mine first!)
When your beginning of the binding is laying on the quilt in the right place, open the strip and fold the top left corner down so that this top edge is even with the right side of the binding strip. Fold the binding in half again. Press very well. Put a pin at the "sweet spot", the spot at the base of the triangle, where the triangle meets the edge of the binging strip. , and start sewing about 6 inches from that tip.

When you have sewn on most of the binding, stretching the binding at least a little as you sew it on, and come around to the end, stop sewing at least 6 inches from the tip of the triangle. Take the quilt out of the machine. Pin the beginning tail to the quilt where you will want it to be, keeping it very snug. Stretch just a little. Then pin the ending tail where you want it, stretching that a little, too. Cut off ending tail at the sweet spot. There is a pin there, remember? When ending tail is cut off, take out all pins.

Now use a binder clip or Clover clip to hold the quilt edges together where there is no binding yet. This just makes it easier to work without all that weight in your way. Open both binding tails out flat. Place right sides together matching top edges. Find the diagonal line you pressed in. Twist the binding edges so that that diagonal line is horizontal and tails are at right angles to each other. Pin well. Sew on pressed line. Press seam open, you should see a square in there with a diagonal line through it. Trim the seam allowance. Fold in half again being sure the seam remains open. Sew this last area of binding to the quilt.

Since I use Elmer's Glue to attach my binding onto the quilt before I take it to the machine to stitch down, when I come to the ends I have the beginning end with its 45 degree edge folded, then I place the other end over it giving it a little tug, I add a little glue just past the 1/4" mark, press the end to it and then take it to the machine to stitch, then come back and finish gluing the rest of the binding to the quilt. Has worked great for me and no pins to prick me either.

I overlap the two ends by the width of the binding (2 1/2 inch binding = 2 1/2 inch overlap). I then fold & crease the top piece corner into a HST, wrong sides together, so that looking at the overlap, it looks like a bias seam. If you peek at the raw edge you just folded under, the raw edges will align with the raw edge of the bottom piece. Carefully lift and pin the two top raw edges together (right sides will be facing and on the inside). This is the edges you will sew diagonally into your 1/4" seam. Just follow the line you previously creased. Trim (I always check first), press and you are ready to stitch the remainder of your overlap onto the quilt edge. I never have twisted edges anymore. Hope this is understandable and saves the day for you.

Snooze and Emilia's Nana have it right. This is just the way I said it in post 27. When you do it this way, it doesn't matter how wide the binding is. If your binding is 2 inches, the triangle will show you the sweet spot at 2 inches. If it is 3 inches, the sweet spot will be 3 inches from the tiip.

Everything takes time then everything falls into place!

No you actually sew right sides together! You need to turn the opposite bindings in opposite directions. The binding is open. I always pin first to make sure they do lay correctly. I never cut until after sewing and final check to make sure everything is laying like it should. Hope this helps.

Thank you for this link...it is the most helpful I've seen. I like that he used two different fabrics which it made it so much easier to follow.

Right sides go together!

I lay the left side end along the unsewn edge and stick a pin in it to anchor it to the edge where it's not been sewn. Then I take the right side end and lap it over the left side end, and mark with a pin exactly on top of the left side pin. Don't pin it to anything, just put the pin in the binding as a marker.

Open both ends flat, moving pins if you have to but then putting them back in their exact spots again. Lift the right side end up so it is perpendicular to the left end, and lay it with its pin right over the pin in the left end. Use both pins to join the ends, right sides together-- the left side parallel to the edge and the right side perpendicular to the edge. Then sew a diagonal seam from the upper right corner, down to the lower left corner, where the binding ends overlap. Trim to a 1/4" seam allowance and your binding should be the right length. Sew it on.

That, without pictures or a video, was probably about as clear as mud! Hope you can find a video of the process.

I am intrigued....what do you mean "no miter corners for binding" ????

I used Jenny Doan's The Ultimate Quilt Binding Tutorial -- a YouTube Video -- by Missouri Star Quilt Company. One thing I do differently -- I always cut my binding strips lengthwise, unless I'm doing something that requires a bias binding. My difference does not apply to your problem.

I can do the binding ends if I remember to face them either towards or away from the body of the quilt. I can never remember. So I have to look at a tutorial every time. For me that seems to be my issue. If I have the ends wrong sides together but they are facing the wrong way they are twisted. It took me a long time to figure out what I was doing wrong and still have to look it up.

Thanks for all the help. on this site http://piraterodgers.com/tutorials/e...ding/index.htm , picture #6 made my binding turn out perfect the first time, today... so easy!

Sync....that's the way I always do my bindings. I don't have a tool for doing it.

Yes, and that's exactly how I told how to do it. Except I put the triangle into the first end before I start to sew and that triangle is the measuring ruler for where to cut off the last end. Sew simple!