I really, really hate binding....I will avoid it from now on if possible on other projects besides quilts...I thought I would practice on a few pot holders...nope...not doing that again...I will stick with the no binding potholders.

I absolutely hate it too!!!!


BUT now that i do it by machine from start to finish, I can tolerate it. :)

Someone on another message posted an AWESOME link to help with this issue .....

www.lorettaalvarado.com/binding.htm

Maybe this will help you :)

Sorry. I had those feelings as well until I learned an easy way to do it. Knowledge is power. The first link is my favorite. The other two links are valuable also. Good luck.
http://ankastreasures.wordpress.com/.../binding-tips/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wprg5vzkuGw
http://naptimequilter.blogspot.com/2...-and-hand.html

easy or not, the only thing i will ever like about binding a quilt is knowing it means the quilt is [finally] finished. :lol:

i know quilters who absolutely love doing the binding. i envy them. :-)

I made a bunch of pot holders this morning thankfully only one that had a binding. It took me forever...and it came out horrible.I just switched back to doing the watch and stack way. I am going to donate them to the Lucky Dog thrift shop..The money they make goes to animals. They sell the items at low cost. If they sell them for a dollar they wil go quick.

Dido for me. I feel the same way.

Send them to me, I love doing the binding. But then I like handsewing - because I can do that on my recliner in front of the TV when I am too tired to sit at a machine.

I saw a presser foot the other day that helps you to sew the binding on with one go around. Now does it really work? You know sometimes new gadgets can be more difficult than just doing it the old fashion way. I too use to avoid bindings but now I take the time to do them just because I think it adds a nice visual.

I used 1/4 Steam a Steam 2 to hold down the binding, then SID. It came out perfect and I didn't use 1 pin. It
was fantastic.

Hope you find something that works for you :-D

I go old school and pull the backing to the front. I've seen several tutorials for the correct way to do binding and I still don't understand the corners. It held me back from starting to quilt. Now I just do it how it's intuitive and natural to me, and am having fun.

Binding is my favorite part of my quilts. It's what adds the final beautiful part to all my hard work. Besides I too enjoy sitting in my recliner watching a movie and sewing the binding on by hand. I can smell the scent of accomplishment in the ar!

I love to put the binding on a quilt..it is the finishing touch to a job well done.

I almost always do it all by machine, so I don't mind it. By the time I get to the binding stage, I'm too impatient to hand-stitch it down. I want to get it washed and used! I also don't worry about mitered corners. My corners look fine the way they are. I don't know how to describe them, but they're not mitered. I'm ok with that. Last I checked, my quilts were still warm!

I didn't check the other two links but I think this would be as easy as pie. I actually haven't used this technique, and at first didn't understand how this would be done. As I was thinking over the instructions I saw a pad of sticky notes on my desk. took off the top one and tore it down the middle, crossed the ends at 45 degree and then folded down the top one as if I had sewn it. I'm going to try that right now on some place mats I made yesterday.

I find it very hard to sew the ends together, (putting it under the needle) its such a pain....INot as hard on a quilt but the potholder is so small so its harder. I did try doing the pocket way and that was easier but not as nice looking.

Lacelady- all the way to IRELAND?? well maybe i'll do my own. thanks anyway girl. :mrgreen:

I love putting binding on quilts. My quilting buddy and I have a system. I do all of her bindings and she does all my quilting. She has a long arm. Don't know what I would do to get my quilting done if she didn't do my quilts. I live on SS and couldn't afford to send them out to be quilted.
jazs2

I hate cutting the bias binding, but LOVE sewing it on. I machine stitch it on the front, then turn it to the back and stitch it down by hand. Heaven! Except in the heat of summer, maybe. But one can also do it all by machine in a jiffy. And folks use deco stitches too, though I don't know how that looks on the back.

I believe most quilters don't like binding is the binding doesn't come out even and accurate. I discovered that when I went back and really analyzed what went wrong my bindings began to improve. Check out my demo on
www.quilterstv.com and under Quilters Cafe. It is still showing and if not now keep checking back.

Since I had my hand surgery in May I realize that the hand binding is no more. I am learning how to do a pretty good binding on the machine. I don't mind the bindings at all anymore. With each one I do, they seem to get nicer looking each time.

Sunnycat -- I've done it this way on a couple of small quilts and my corners are a little messy. How do you do your corners?

FW Beth is right, as much as I love stitching the binding down, it DOES give a hand cramp.

I'm sorry there are so many that dislike binding so much. I know it's frustrating to dread a step in a hobby you otherwise love. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones that loves doing binding. It was tricky at first but just one of those things you learn how to do better and better each time you do it. I actually like it MORE now that I finish my binding by hand (I started out my first few quilts doing the binding all on the machine). I've never pretended I'm totally normal though. :D

On my first quilt...too many years ago, I was told to curve the corners using a margerine lid from the diet size tub. That lid is really old now. No one seems to notice my quilts don't have square corners. It is so easy..I hate cutting the strips. But I do that when I cut out the quilt nowl

I'm not good with words, but I hope I'll be able to explain it to you. I just finished up my latest project, or else I'd take a pic. Keep in mind I've only done 3 projects so far..

I leave 1" excess batting around all corners. I chose to parallel sides to start with. I fold the 1" in half, so the raw edge is now touching the quilt. It looks sort of like bias tape. I then fold it over the top of the quilt and pin it down. I sew my first two chosen sides from top of the quilt to bottom. Then I go back to my other two sides. This is when I do the corners. I do it exactly as before BUT when I get close to the edges, I unfold, and then turn in the corner to the fold, refold (so now the raw edges are tucked in), and then fold up against the quilt.

I was able to get a picture of the corner up close so you could see. I love the look. It looks even better when the thread is better coordinated with the fabric. I also prefer the stacked corners over mitered corners.

Thanks! I was trying to do it with mitered corners and it just wasn't working well at all.

I would love to have someone close who loved to do bindings too :D:D:D

I don't LOVE binding but I don't hate it either. I like that I can do it while watching TV with my DH and that it means I almost done with a quilt. That's very satisfying for me.

me too amma! me too lol

Also look at binding as Great almost done!! :)
Do like finishing in the winter months if finished by hand, can check for warm :) (they always pass this test)
Do the corners last, don't worry about the mitered corners, even if are machine applied, finish corners by hand. No QP allowed!!

There are several techniques that work well. The double fold straight grain binding is fairly easy to prepare and applies easily too.

I love doing the bindings. I do my in reverse sewing to the back then pulling to the front and sewing it down by machine. Best thing is when I do bindings,I'm only minutes away from finishing the quilt.

I don't mind it ,machine the binding on top then do as above; love the double with mitred corners best BUT have done the last two quilts with single binding and straight corners, not bad either.

My wife and I both hate binding. I'm very fortunate that she does the binding on our quilts. I guess it would help if we took the binding section of the quilt class we've been taking for a year! I'm also planning to check all the links above. Thanks everybody!

Darren

I hate binding! I hate binding! I hate binding!

Being a new quilter I really appreciate it when someone provides a link to a tutorial. I just watched the one on binding, it was perfect. Thanks so much.

I sew my binding on the front and then hand sew the back. I can't figure this out....I hate to hand sew but I absolutely love sewing bindings! Send them to me and I will do them for you.

That's why I like binding. It means, I'm finished!! Yea!!

I avoid binding at all costs. My first quilt I did as I was taught - machine stitch to front and hand sew in back, mitered the corners. My next one I did as I read - machine stitch to back, pull over and machine stitch to front. Next one I pulled the backing over and machine stitched down. Hated all of them and none of them looked good. For everything else - maybe 4 -5 projects - I sew right sides together and then turn right-side out through an opening I left - then fold in and iron the opening and machine stitch closed. I like that best and will continue to do it until I get comfortable enough to go back to binding. I have a secret pal from church who will be mine for the year. I plan to make her seasonal reversible table runners and place mats (like snowmen on front and hearts on back for Jan/Feb.) Sometime during the year I WILL conquer the binding issue on these small projects! I will, I will, I will!