Barbara Wade

I have a quilt that needs binding....and i just wanted to ask...does the binding need to be put on all at one time? all around the 4 corners. or can i do Left/right...top/bottom? I have so much trouble doing the corners on the all one piece binding , i thought maybe ; do all the sides seperate...What do you think?? Just an idea.....

Jim

you can do that....it just wont be a continous binding like normal but then what in life is normal..it's your quilt...and nothing wrong with doing it your way

Neesie

Just do the binding, whichever way you feel comfortable doing it. IF anyone says anything negative about it, just tell them you prefer it that way! That said, there are tutorials, which show how to do painless corners. Just takes a bit of practice and before you know it, you have a nice, mitered corner!

BTW, if binding corners really, really upsets you, you can simply add a border, then round off those corners a bit (use as small saucer, ribbon spool, or whatever, as a pattern) and use bias-cut binding, around the whole thing. The curved edge will be fairly easy to finish neatly.

tlrnhi

It's YOUR quilt, you do it the way you want!!
I used to have the worst time putting bindings on, but then I joined the Doll Quilt Swap. That enabled me to try different things and that's how I FINALLY learned how to do a continuous binding.

nativetexan

I"m sure lots of quilters do individual bindings on their quilts. just be sure to fold the raw ends inward before you stitch them down. have fun!

MaryMo

No quilt police here ... do it your way! Quilts are made to enjoy ... for both maker and user.

Prism99

You can certainly do that. However, for myself, I have never been able to get the corners to look good using that method. I find it actually more difficult! With practice, I have gotten the corners to look very good using the traditional method with mitered borders.

One thing that many people do not realize with the traditional binding method is that where you*stop* when getting to a corner -- that is, where you stop sewing and backstitch -- must be the exact distance away from the edge as your seam allowance. If, for instance, you are using a 3/8" seam allowance when sewing on the binding, you must stop 3/8" from the edge when you get to the corner. If you use a 1/2" seam allowance, stop 1/2" from the edge before removing the quilt and folding the binding for the corner. A mistake I used to make was stopping 1/4" away even if my seam allowance was more than 1/4". When I did that, the corners would never work out!

The other thing I learned to do when folding the corner is to simply make sure that the binding's fold lines up exactly with the old binding edge, and that the new binding edge lines up exactly with the quilt edge.

I remember being very confused and having to consult diagrams multiple times to do binding corners. Now that I have practiced enough to have memorized a few simple principles, binding corners actually come out just fine.

One thing I would recommend is not starting with too narrow of a binding. It's easier to work with a wider binding and not try to "fill" the binding too much. Although the result is a slightly larger binding than I would put on a show piece, I find it easiest to cut 2.5" binding strips (I *always* heavily starch the binding fabric before cutting strips; makes it much easier to handle!), use a 3/8" seam allowance, and stop 3/8" before the corner. I also sometimes ***very*** carefully nip off a little of the batting at the corner -- not the binding! -- to make the binding easier to miter neatly.

Edit: I wanted to add that it's worth it to make several 12" sandwich squares and practice attaching binding to them until you get the corners right.

dunster

Yes, it is your quilt, and yes, you can do whatever you want. But if you are unhappy with the way your corners look when you use a continuous binding strip, you will probably be even more unhappy with the way they look when you do each side individually. You will be turning the binding under at each corner, and that adds bulk, which will make it very difficult to sew that corner and make it really square. Chances are it will stick out in an awkward manner. I would say - try it on one corner. Just sew one piece of binding a few inches down the quilt to the corner, and then sew another on the side that meets that corner and try out your technique. If it works for you then continue to do the rest, and let us know whether it works or not.

Tartan

I have good luck using double fold continuous binding but that is not the only way you can finish your quilt. Some people like to fold the extra back fabric over to the front and stitch it as binding. The only problem I can see with binding each side separately is you will still have to fold and stitch the corners some how. Have you thought about rounding your corners? I have on occasion used straight grain binding on most of the quilt but sewed on a 10 inch section of bias binding to go around each rounded corner. It turned out great.

QuiltingHaven

Prism99 is right on the money. When I started quilting a year ago, I tried to follow all the directions on the web and in the books and they just didn't work. So I started practicing on 9 inch squares (which became nice pot holders) and I do exactly the same as she does. Her directions are perfect and yes, I like either a 3/8 binding or even better for me is 1/2 inch. They look nice when I get done and I have gotten very good at this with the 11 quilts I have done - hand quilted 6 of them (3 were baby quilts and 3 were twin size).