binding problems
 

First of all Hallelujah! the Blue Irish Chain is finished and ready to be given as a wedding gift for my DGD's mother. It gave me fits applying the binding. I've had the occasional pucker or slipped edge that I had to go back and fix, but both sides of this quilt had to be ripped off and hand basted before returning to the machine. I tried starch. I think there were two issues. 1. There was no cross quilting to hold the edge. It was all vertical and about 2" from the edge. 2nd, the sides were WOF on the top and length of fabric on the back. That allowed the top to stretch and fold since it was against the feed dogs. Took me two days of ripping and repairing, but it' done and lesson learned!

Your next binding will go on easily to make up for this one, I just know it.

Dina

Being done does feel good.

Did you use regular pressure foot or walking foot to sew on the binding.

That's what I was wondering too. It really helps to use the walking foot.

Glad you were able to finish.

I did use my walking foot. I really think the problem was the vertical quilting that left 2" along the sides "loose." Next time I quilt like that I will baste first. The top and bottom went on fine.

I have made it a habit to baste around the edge of my finished quilt about 1/8"in from the edge, Using a walking foot. This helps to stabilize those areas that are not quilted close to the edge.

After quilting, most instructions say to trim the excess batting and backing off the quilt. I do this in two steps.

First I trim the excess leaving 1" of batting and backing around the edge. This gives the feed dogs something to grip to move the quilt forward through the machine when I baste it around the edge.

Second, I sew the binding on to the front of the quilt.

Third, I trim the 1" extra batting and backing off from around the edge.

Hope this helps for the future.
peace

Isn't it aggravating to have that many issues with binding! Glad you got it finished - the good thing is we learn with everything we do!!