Blind stitch for binding

Just one more. You will not die if you have to baste the corners. It will
still be a heap faster than handstitching the whole quilt. Polly

"AliceW" wrote in message
...
Thanks Polly. I have a Pfaff that has a gazillion built in stitches so I
think I have the ones you mentioned. I think any machine method is going
to be less tedious than the hand sewing. I will have to make some
practice blocks to get the hang of it first though. Thanks for the tips!

Alice in NJ

--
AliceW
"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
Alice, try the one that looks like chicken tracks. (maybe 'feather'
stitch?) . . . or the one that looks like little hills drawn with a
single row of stitches (sort of a scallop). Any oops that you have with
the blind stitch is going to be visible 15 feet away on a galloping
horse. If you can, do your stitching from the top side of the quilt so
you can control the appearance. The SM will try to bog down at the
corners so you'll want to release the pressure of the presser foot some.
Tell your SM that You are in control and use the hand wheel at the
corners if you have to in order to have a uniform stitch. I didn't mean
to make this sound so tedious; just thought I'd arm you with all the
tricks. Polly



"KJ" wrote in message
news:U4JBi.80890$Fc.25088@attbi_s21...
I think she meant she didn't want to do it by hand.

--
Kathyl (KJ)
remove "nospam" before mchsi
http://community.webshots.com/user/kathylquiltz
"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure exactly what you mean, the stitch I use to sew bindings
down by hand doesn't show, I just assumed everyone did it like this -
though I realised recently this is not the case. I don't think it takes
me any more time to do it this way.

Cheers
Anne

I know the corners are a bear! I am anal to a fault about my corners. I
was wondering how to handle them. I appreciate the advance warning. I
don't want to rush through any of my quilts but there is a certain little
guy who just turned 3 and needs a bed quilt since he is going into a "big
boy" bed within the next few weeks. He wants "boats" on his bed, like
Pop-Pop's boat. So, I need to start this quilt rather quickly you
understand.

Alice in NJ

--
AliceW
"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
Just one more. You will not die if you have to baste the corners. It
will still be a heap faster than handstitching the whole quilt. Polly

"AliceW" wrote in message
...
Thanks Polly. I have a Pfaff that has a gazillion built in stitches so I
think I have the ones you mentioned. I think any machine method is going
to be less tedious than the hand sewing. I will have to make some
practice blocks to get the hang of it first though. Thanks for the tips!

Alice in NJ

--
AliceW
"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
Alice, try the one that looks like chicken tracks. (maybe 'feather'
stitch?) . . . or the one that looks like little hills drawn with a
single row of stitches (sort of a scallop). Any oops that you have with
the blind stitch is going to be visible 15 feet away on a galloping
horse. If you can, do your stitching from the top side of the quilt so
you can control the appearance. The SM will try to bog down at the
corners so you'll want to release the pressure of the presser foot some.
Tell your SM that You are in control and use the hand wheel at the
corners if you have to in order to have a uniform stitch. I didn't mean
to make this sound so tedious; just thought I'd arm you with all the
tricks. Polly



"KJ" wrote in message
news:U4JBi.80890$Fc.25088@attbi_s21...
I think she meant she didn't want to do it by hand.

--
Kathyl (KJ)
remove "nospam" before mchsi
http://community.webshots.com/user/kathylquiltz
"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure exactly what you mean, the stitch I use to sew bindings
down by hand doesn't show, I just assumed everyone did it like this -
though I realised recently this is not the case. I don't think it
takes me any more time to do it this way.

Cheers
Anne

Seeing as it's already sewn at the front, another thought is to pin it well
over at the back but stitch in the ditch from the front. I did do that some
years ago before...duhh...sew it from the back first...and it did work
reasonably...only missed the back in a couple of places that I snigged by
hand. Not the best technique but in a pinch.......well .....
Wendy in NSW

"AliceW" wrote in message
. ..
Has anyone tried this method of sewing the binding to the back of a quilt?
I know it's not supposed to be used for heirloom quilts or show quilts,
but I have some quilts that are scrap quilts and basic utility quilts that
I would love to find an easier way to sew the back binding down. Don't
want it to look schlocky but don't want to put the long hours of hand
sewing into it if I can avoid it.

Thanks! I hope this hasn't been a recent topic that I missed.

--
AliceW

In article ,
"Polly Esther" wrote:

Alice, try the one that looks like chicken tracks. (maybe 'feather'
stitch?) . . . or the one that looks like little hills drawn with a single
row of stitches (sort of a scallop). Any oops that you have with the blind
stitch is going to be visible 15 feet away on a galloping horse. If you
can, do your stitching from the top side of the quilt so you can control the
appearance. The SM will try to bog down at the corners so you'll want to
release the pressure of the presser foot some. Tell your SM that You are in
control and use the hand wheel at the corners if you have to in order to
have a uniform stitch. I didn't mean to make this sound so tedious; just
thought I'd arm you with all the tricks. Polly


Polly, that's the sort of thing I was trying -- not too successfully --
to say. I've used the feather stitch, and it looks great for this sort
of thing.

--
Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas
sfoster 1 (at) earthlink (dot) net (remove/change the obvious)
http://www.sandymike.net

Polly Esther wrote:
Just one more. You will not die if you have to baste the corners. It will
still be a heap faster than handstitching the whole quilt. Polly

I guess I will take my life in my own hands and explain again that I
always do my binding by machine using a decorative stitch. I also put
my binding on in ONE pass -- I don't sew the back side down and then
turn to the front. I'm pretty sure it was Mary Ellen Hopkins who came
up with this process. Anyway, I determine the width fabric I need, fold
in half and then fold the ends to the center. I end up with something
that looks like store bought bias binding but is double thickness and is
straight of grain (assuming there are no curves in the edge of the quilt).
I then put this binding over the raw edge of the quilt after I have
put the quilt edge through the serger -- makes it a lot easier. I
start in the center of the "bottom" and sew the binding down to the edge
of the quilt -- NO stitches beyond the edge of the quilt or you won't be
able to make the mitered corner turn. Break your thread and take the
quilt from the machine. Now you can easily AND cleanly turn the binding
to the next side because those stitches you have just completed hold the
binding down and you can make a nice neat 45 degree mitered corner.
By using a decorative stitch, I am certain to get both the front and
the back side of the binding stitched down in just one pass through the
machine. My favourite stitch is either the feather stitch (the one
someone said looks like chicken feet) or the one I call "hills &
valleys" which is a series of small, large, small /\ stitches to one
side and then the same series of stitches to the other side. I also
like to use variegated thread which helps in hiding any instances of
pilot error.
I haven't checked online to see if this method of applying quilt
binding is described any better or with photos but it certainly does
make binding application a LOT quicker and more enjoyable, at least for
me. I join the ends in a diagonal seam so that it's not noticeable and
just looks like the rest of the seams for making the length of binding.
It's way difficult to try and explain how I do this but if anyone was
interested I would be happy to give it a try. CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

I'll add another. G If you are going to stitch from the front side to
catch the back side of the binding down:
glue or tape the binding in place. Use glue stick, which will wash out,
to make sure the binding stays in place and you catch it all. Or use
WonderTape which is a double sided tape that is also water soluble,
washes out with the first wash. G
Either of these work very well.

Pati, in Phx
http://community.webshots.com/user/PatiCooks



Polly Esther wrote:
Just one more. You will not die if you have to baste the corners. It will
still be a heap faster than handstitching the whole quilt. Polly

"AliceW" wrote in message
...
Thanks Polly. I have a Pfaff that has a gazillion built in stitches so I
think I have the ones you mentioned. I think any machine method is going
to be less tedious than the hand sewing. I will have to make some
practice blocks to get the hang of it first though. Thanks for the tips!

Alice in NJ

--
AliceW
"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
Alice, try the one that looks like chicken tracks. (maybe 'feather'
stitch?) . . . or the one that looks like little hills drawn with a
single row of stitches (sort of a scallop). Any oops that you have with
the blind stitch is going to be visible 15 feet away on a galloping
horse. If you can, do your stitching from the top side of the quilt so
you can control the appearance. The SM will try to bog down at the
corners so you'll want to release the pressure of the presser foot some.
Tell your SM that You are in control and use the hand wheel at the
corners if you have to in order to have a uniform stitch. I didn't mean
to make this sound so tedious; just thought I'd arm you with all the
tricks. Polly



"KJ" wrote in message
news:U4JBi.80890$Fc.25088@attbi_s21...
I think she meant she didn't want to do it by hand.

--
Kathyl (KJ)
remove "nospam" before mchsi
http://community.webshots.com/user/kathylquiltz
"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure exactly what you mean, the stitch I use to sew bindings
down by hand doesn't show, I just assumed everyone did it like this -
though I realised recently this is not the case. I don't think it takes
me any more time to do it this way.

Cheers
Anne

Another tip for machine sewing a binding in place is to cut the strips
an extra 1/8-1/4 inch wide which gives some insurance to help catch
the back.
jennellh

On Aug 30, 7:14 pm, "AliceW" wrote:
Has anyone tried this method of sewing the binding to the back of a quilt?
I know it's not supposed to be used for heirloom quilts or show quilts, but
I have some quilts that are scrap quilts and basic utility quilts that I
would love to find an easier way to sew the back binding down. Don't want
it to look schlocky but don't want to put the long hours of hand sewing into
it if I can avoid it.

Thanks! I hope this hasn't been a recent topic that I missed.

--
AliceW

AliceW wrote:
Thanks everyone. I have already sewn the binding onto the front so I
think I'd better just bite the bullet and sew this one by hand. But I
will really try the machine method the next time! Great tips as usual!

If your binding is a bit wider on the back than on the front, you should
be able to fold it under and top stitch from the top. I like to stitch
in the ditch with thread to match my last border and you can hardly see
the stitching from the top. A couple times, I used a decorative stitch
from the top, too. That works, but usually I like the simpler look of
the straight stitch in the ditch. If you think you might have trouble
catching the binding on the bottom side, the decorative stitch is wider
and more likely to hold securely.

I've done it often enough that I can usually catch the bottom edge
without pinning or anything. I only pin the miters at the corners. It
doesn't always look real great from the back, but it's done and it's
sturdy -- 2 big plusses in my book. You could use some of that water
soluble basting tape or some basting glue to hold the back side down
while you stitch. That should help hold things in place.

Julia in MN

--
This message has been scanned for viruses by Norton Anti-Virus

http://webpages.charter.net/jaccola/

On Aug 31, 2:49 am, "AliceW" wrote:
I know the corners are a bear! I am anal to a fault about my corners.

So am I Alice! Nice to meet someone else whose like that! Elly
I
was wondering how to handle them. I appreciate the advance warning. I
don't want to rush through any of my quilts but there is a certain little
guy who just turned 3 and needs a bed quilt since he is going into a "big
boy" bed within the next few weeks. He wants "boats" on his bed, like
Pop-Pop's boat. So, I need to start this quilt rather quickly you
understand.

Alice in NJ

--
AliceW"Polly Esther" wrote in message

...

Just one more. You will not die if you have to baste the corners. It
will still be a heap faster than handstitching the whole quilt. Polly

"AliceW" wrote in message
...
Thanks Polly. I have a Pfaff that has a gazillion built in stitches so I
think I have the ones you mentioned. I think any machine method is going
to be less tedious than the hand sewing. I will have to make some
practice blocks to get the hang of it first though. Thanks for the tips!

Alice in NJ

--
AliceW
"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
Alice, try the one that looks like chicken tracks. (maybe 'feather'
stitch?) . . . or the one that looks like little hills drawn with a
single row of stitches (sort of a scallop). Any oops that you have with
the blind stitch is going to be visible 15 feet away on a galloping
horse. If you can, do your stitching from the top side of the quilt so
you can control the appearance. The SM will try to bog down at the
corners so you'll want to release the pressure of the presser foot some.
Tell your SM that You are in control and use the hand wheel at the
corners if you have to in order to have a uniform stitch. I didn't mean
to make this sound so tedious; just thought I'd arm you with all the
tricks. Polly

"KJ" wrote in message
news:U4JBi.80890$Fc.25088@attbi_s21...
I think she meant she didn't want to do it by hand.

--
Kathyl (KJ)
remove "nospam" before mchsi
http://community.webshots.com/user/kathylquiltz
"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure exactly what you mean, the stitch I use to sew bindings
down by hand doesn't show, I just assumed everyone did it like this -
though I realised recently this is not the case. I don't think it
takes me any more time to do it this way.

Cheers
Anne

On Aug 31, 12:14 am, "AliceW" wrote:
Has anyone tried this method of sewing the binding to the back of a quilt?
I know it's not supposed to be used for heirloom quilts or show quilts, but
I have some quilts that are scrap quilts and basic utility quilts that I
would love to find an easier way to sew the back binding down. Don't want
it to look schlocky but don't want to put the long hours of hand sewing into
it if I can avoid it.

Thanks! I hope this hasn't been a recent topic that I missed.

--
AliceW

You've had some great ideas mentioned here and I've picked up the tip
of hand stitching the corners when using a fancy stitch from the
front. However, here's one more, which I haven't yet tried but worth
a shot. Use fusible thread to machine your binding down first so the
fusible is on the side you'll turn it over to. Then you can press it
in place before doing the fancy machine stitches. Saving having to
negotiate so many pins.

Elly