Saturday, May 3, 2014

Binding: Triumph at laaaassst!!!


Oh Yeah! A SewPsyched! Triangle Quilt Along finish!!
Binding.  Who'd a thunk it??!

Now, I don't know about you, but I have a hateful relationship with binding. Not a love/hate relationship like I love ice cream, but hate how it make my thighs look like cottage cheese, but a hate-hate one, like fire hates ice and like some people feel about onions, or, possibly, limburger cheese.

 It stinks!

Think I'm kidding? Every one of these quilts
is FINISHED and is waiting for ... 

 I hate spending more time cutting a bias binding than I spent, total, in college (and that's a looonnng time!), and I hate how I always have to redo my bindings after the first wash because I missed a spot, or how when I try to machine bind them the stitching that is supposed to lie close and snug to the edge of the binding wanders about like a troop of peripatetic ants.  (And yes, I had to use that word because I finally learned it after a thousand attempts, and when will I ever use it again??! )

But no more!!!

Check out that binding! I OWN that binding.  And how
do ya like the quilting I did in the  Flower sections?

 Do you have a sound track to your life? I do. And my sound track to binding was more like grinding, gnashing, rusty gears, or the sound of a train coming to a screeching halt. Tug tug, curse, threaten, tug tug, screech! You get my drift. As a matter of fact, my husband has always thought that quilters were some of the major philosophers of the world, because the only sounds he heard drifting down from the sewing room were agonized,

"Whhhhyyyyyys??!!"

But, THIS TIME, after my binding and I faced off like UFC champs contesting the title - sweating, cursing and groin punching-I came across several calm and lovely tutorials that have completely changed my perspective, and my attitude

That's right, baby, mitred corners. Every single stinking
one of them ;)

They worked so well that now when I bind by machine my sound track is songs by Rod Stewart.


Come on, sing along, you know you want to!!

"If you want my body, and you think I'm sexy, come on sugar..." 
That's right, girl. I OWN binding now. I am bindings' BOSS. 

And I have Lynne of Lily's Quilts, and Katy of The Littlest Thistle to thank for it. 
You rock Girls!!!


That's the hubster doing his first
quilt appearance. He knows I'm sexy, too ;)

For this binding, I used clear thread (thanks, Katy) in the bobbin and needle, and used the Fabulously Fast Binding Tutorial from Lily's Quilts (thanks, Lynne!). You might also like this tutorial from Sew Fresh Quilts on how to turn corners when binding a triangle quilt. 
The fabulous Quilt Musings left a link at the bottom of this post to an awesome way to stop being peripatetic by using a stitch in the ditch foot.  Tutorial by From the Blue Chair.

And now you can rock out to fabulous 80's pop tunes while you sew, too! 


The Bee-Inspired Quilt is a Finish!! As part of the Finish Along quarter 2 at the Littlest Thistle. Check out my original list of things to finish, here.
XXOO!
Lori



10 comments:

  1. Congratulations! Both on a beautiful finish (love the colors AND the quilting is all kinds of awesome!) and on conquering binding! I have struggled with binding as well.... My issue is getting the connecting seam (once the binding is sewn onto the quilt) sewn so there are no twists. . . I have sewn and ripped up to five times! As for that problem of the sew line looking like peripatetic ants, I recently saw this post (http://www.fromthebluechair.com/2014/05/patchwork-napkins-pattern-blog-hop.html) from From the Blue Chair. She uses what she calls an edge joining sewing foot to sew down binding. I have what Janome calls a stitch in the ditch foot (and I hate it for SITD). OMG this makes SUCH a difference!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I too share your hate-hate relationship with binding and also share your pile of almost finished quilts waiting for the binding to be put on. Maybe I need a twelve step program or maybe you will be my inspiration to stop complaining and procrastinating and just put the damn bindings on.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congratulations on your victory! You taught that binding a lesson:) Looks fabulous too! I love how your quilt turned out, your quilting and layout are AMAZING! Seriously. Thanks so much for quilting along with me:) Now, lots more finishes for you to get done!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such a funny post! I remember the first time I binded a quilt successfully. It only gets better from here on out:). Love how you did the edges!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ha ha, this post made me smile. Oh, binding...yeah. Not the most loved part of the quilting process. Your quilt is GORGEOUS, by the way, I'm glad you got through the binding to turn it into a completed object. Truly beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOL you are so funny :) That quilt is SO STINKIN BEAUTIFUL!! I'm so glad you are a binding boss now :) Ironically I like doing the binding! I thought it was way harder that it actually is and the hand-sewing at the end is sort of like a happy little meditation on all the work that went into the quilt that is now finished. I can't believe your stack of quilts that need binding, you are very accomlished!

    ReplyDelete
  7. OMG, what a gorgeous quilt. Found you through the fresh Sewing Day and I will definitely be back for more :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Clear thread is a great idea! And you are not alone on the binding thing… I have a quilt that has been done for months waiting for binding. I really like how you arranged the triangles to create the stars on the bottom of the quilt. Thanks for linking up while I hosted Anything Goes Mondays!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Such fun colors and your kwilting is great. Stopping by from 2QTR finishes.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm quite late to the party.... But I must say that I love your Bee-Inspired quilt and your bee-utiful binding. Lovely finish!

    ReplyDelete