FINISHING A QUILT: Quilting and Binding

Design

Your quilting design is the pattern you create with your quilting stitches. This design can complement your quilt top by following its lines and shapes or it can be a different design altogether to create another dimension to your quilt. Your quilting design can include a lot of quilting, which will give it a lot of of texture, or you can quilt minimally and let the quilt top design shine. Whichever style you decide, make sure to check the maximum quilting distance on your batting - most range from 3 to 10”. This is the maximum distance apart your rows of quilting can be.

If you decide to hand quilt, your quilt design options are limited only by how much time you want to spend hand quilting. You aren’t bound by the limitations of a machine, and you can design your quilting pattern any way you like. Keep in mind that the more complex and close together your hand quilting pattern is, the longer it will take to finish.

If you’re a beginner and decide to machine quilt on your domestic sewing machine, I’d recommend keeping the design simple to avoid having to man-handle your quilt through the machine. Anything with angles requires adjusting the position of the quilt relative to your machine without lifting your needle and then rerolling; this can be awkward and time-consuming. Straight rows or a crosshatch design are typically a good place to start.

To transfer your quilting design to your quilt top, use your ruler and Clover Hera Marker to mark creases where you want your stitches to be. This ensures that your rows are straight and even. If you don’t have a Hera Marker, you can use the dull edge of a butter knife, tailor’s chalk or even painter’s tape. You’ll use the creases as a guide for your quilting rows.

Choosing a Quilting Method

There are two main ways of quilting a quilt: by hand or machine. Both have their pros and their cons, and the method you choose depends on your skills and aesthetic preference.

When I first taught myself to quilt, I wasn’t very confident on my sewing machine and didn’t have a walking foot, so I started out with hand quilting, It took some practice to get comfortable with the technique and the rhythm, but the method was much more forgiving functionally and aesthetically. I hand quilted exclusively for two years until I finally gave machine quilting a try. Machine quilting is definitely much faster and more durable, but I still love the meditative process of hand quilting.

Whichever method you choose, I’d recommend making some test swatches before you start on your first project. Make a mini quilt sandwich with some scraps, and try to machine quilting a few rows of stitches or sew a few hand-quilted shapes to get the feel for it.

Hand Quilting

If you decide to hand quilt, you’ll need the thimble, needle, thread and small scissors. Many hand quilters use a hoop to keep their quilt sandwich taut, but it’s not necessary.

To start, cut a length of thread within your arm span. Thread your needle and tie a quilter’s knot (or a triple knot if a quilter’s knot sounds intimidating) at the other end. Place your thimble on the middle finger of your dominant hand.

From the underside of your quilt, stick your threaded needle through the back of the quilt, bringing the needle up through the quilt top in the spot where you want to start your first row. Pull the thread through and tug slightly to pop your knot through the backing fabric, but not all the way through the batting. This hides the knot inside the quilt.

While you’re quilting, use your non-dominant hand underneath the quilt to support the fabric while you’re stitching. Be careful not to prick yourself with the needle.

Mark the quilting rows with your Hera Marker.

Hold the needle between your thumb and forefinger and stick your needle back down through the top of the quilt, but not all the way through. Then, place your thimbled finger at the end of the needle, and use a rocking motion to push the end down and the tip back up through the quilt sandwich from the bottom. Use your thumb to push against the fabric and slide the needle through. This creates your first stitch!

Using the method above, you’ll continue to create a “running stitch” that follows the lines of your quilting design. Instead of doing one stitch at a time, “load” up your needle with two to four stitches then pull the thread all the way through.

TIP: When you first start, your stitches will probably be large, uneven and wonky- that’s totally okay! That only adds to the character of the quilt. The more you practice, the smaller, straighter and more even your stitches will become. Although, even after years of hand quilting, my stitches still have a healthy amount of wonkiness to them.

“Loading up"“ your needle with multiple stitches speeds up hand quilting.

Continue quilting until you have about 6” of thread remaining. With your thread coming up through the quilt top, carefully tie a triple knot close to the quilt top, approximately one stitch length from where it comes out of the fabric. Then, make your last stitch by sticking your needle down and then back up through just the quilt top and batting, but not through the backing. Tug slightly on the end of the thread to pop your knot underneath the quilt top and batting to secure it in place. Snip the end of your thread and make sure the end is buried underneath the quilt top. Repeat until your entire quilt is quilted.

NOTE: There are a few types of hand quilting: traditional hand quilting, big stitches and sashiko.

• When I think of traditional hand quilting, I think of Amish quilts. These stitches look almost like machine quilting, they’re so small and even. This method typically uses a thin thread and extremely small stitches, anywhere from 8 to 12 stitches per inch by some of the most advanced quilters.

• Big stitch quilting is bolder and uses thicker embroidery thread with 2 to 4 stitches per inch. It’s more freeform and forgiving with fewer guidelines. This is the method I started out with.

• Shashiko is a traditional Japanese technique of hand sewing that uses decorative stitches for mending and quilting, The stitches are made in a 3:2 proportion, with the longer stitch on the top of the quilt. The patterns and rules of shashiko are very specific, but the overall effect is striking.

If your machine has adjustable foot pressure, you can always machine quilt with a normal foot on the lowest pressure setting.

Machine Quilting

If you’ve decided to machine quilt your quilt, you’ll need to swap out the regular sewing foot with a walking foot as instructed by your sewing machine manual.

Before you start, lay your quilt sandwich flat and then roll both edges of your quilt sandwich toward the middle, making sure your rolls run parallel to your quilting lines. Rolling your edges ensures that your quilt will fit neatly through the throat of your sewing machine. This isn’t always necessary, especially if your quilt is small or you’re doing a more complex quilting pattern, but it will make the machine-quilting process a whole lot easier.

Adjust the stitch length on your machine to longer than what you’d use for piecing, between 3 and 4 millimeters or 6 to 8 stitches per inch.

The easiest method I’ve found to machine quilt is to start from the middle and work your way out. This moves any shift of fabric toward the outer edges, as opposed to locking any bubbles or creases in the middle of the quilt. Starting with the center quilting row, stitch right down the center of the crease from one edge to the other, backstitching at each end to secure. When you get to the end of that row, snip your thread and go back to the top, starting with the next row to the right.

Continue stitching each row to the right of the last one, unrolling the right roll and rolling the left roll inwards, until you reach the right edge of the quilt. At this point, you should have one half of your quilt sandwich quilted.

To quilt the other side, lay your quilt flat again and reroll your edges as you did in the beginning. Then you’ll repeat the same steps as above on the unquilted side, quilting each row from the center to the right. This means you’ll be starting your rows from the bottom and ending at the top.

TIP: When you first start a row, let the rest of the quilt rest on your left shoulder as you feed the quilt through the sewing machine. This will keep fabric from dragging and allow your quilt to feed through the machine more freely.

Binding

Step 1: Trim + Square the Quilt

When you’ve finished quilting, it’s time to bind your quilt! This step hides the raw edges and creates a nice finished look. Binding is a multi-step process that begins by trimming the edges of your quilted quilt. You’ll want to use your ruler and rotary cutter to cut the excess batting and backing off. Ideally, the dimensions will be the same as the finished dimensions, but if you need to trim down a bit more to make your edges straight and corners square, that’s just fine.

Step 2: Sew the Binding Strips Together

To make your binding, you’ll start by cutting 2 1/2” x WOF (width of fabric) strips from your binding fabric and trim the selvedge off. Then take the short ends of two strips with right sides together and position the top strip perpendicular to the one below, lining up the corners. Sew diagonally from the top left corner to the bottom right corner. Trim the excess fabric, leaving a 1/4” seam allowance and press the seam open. Repeat the steps above with the remaining strips until they’re all connected.

Once all the strips are joined, fold the strip in half lengthwise with the wrong side facing and press with your iron. Unfold one end of your binding strip and using your ruler and rotary cutter, cut the top left corner off at a 45-degree angle. Fold that end back in half.

Step 3: Attach the Binding to the Quilt Front

Take the cut end of your binding strip and place it on the front side of your quilt with the raw edges of the strip aligned with the edge of your quilt, about half way down one of the sides. Leave a 6 to 8” tail and slowly stitch the binding strip to the front of the quilt with a 1/4” seam allowance.

When you reach a corner, stop 1/4” away from the edge and backstitch a couple times to strengthen the corner. Without breaking your thread, lift the presser foot and rotate your quilt to start along the new edge. Raise your needle and fold the binding up and away from the quilt so it’s perpendicular to the previous edge. Maintaining that first fold, fold the binding back down on itself so the binding edge lines up with the new edge of the quilt. Place your presser foot back down and continue sewing down the new edge with a 1/4” seam allowance, backstitching a few times at the corner to secure. Repeat until you’ve sewn along all edges and around corners.

When you get close to where you started, stop stitching about 6 to 8” from the end of the beginning tail. Unfold the beginning and end tails of your binding strips, layering the beginning tail on top of the end tail, making sure there’s no slack between the two. Pin the unfolded tails to the edge of the quilt. Using the 45-degree angle you cut out of the beginning tail, mark the line where the two ends overlap on the end tail with your ruler and Hera Marker. Unpin and using the line you just marked, cut a 45-degree angle with a 1/2” allowance.

Then, with the right sides of your beginning and end tail, sew the two ends together with a 1/4” (6 mm) seam allowance. Press the seam open, refold the binding and finish sewing around the rest of your quilt until all the binding is attached at the front.

Step 4: Attach the Binding to the Quilt Back

Flip your quilt over so the backside is facing up and turn your binding so the folded edge wraps around the raw edge of the quilt. Some people like to clip or pin their binding in place while they attach it to the backside. I use on or two craft clips and move them down as I sew.

There are two ways to sew your binding to the backside of your quilt: by hand or by machine. By hand is much slower and not quite as durable, but it’s more forgiving. Machine is quicker, but the potential for slipped, wiggly stitches is much higher. If you’re just starting out I’d recommend sewing by hand and will instruct based on the method.

Using the same thread (approximately a 24” length is most manageable), a small universal needle and a leather thimble, make a quilter’s knot or a quadruple knot at the end of your thread. Tuck that knot into the quilt back close to the edge so the binding hides it, making sure it’s securely fixed. Then, push your needle up through the very edge of your fold, pull the thread through and bring the needle down through the backing and batting only, right below where your binding stitch is. Push the needle back up through the backing and batting, about 1/2” away from the first stitch, and then catch the very edge of your fold right above where your needle came out. Continue these stitches, pulling your thread taut as you go. When you get to a corner, you’ll fold the binding into a mitered corner and do a triple stitch to secure.

When you near the end of the thread length, make a knot, stitch through the backing and batting and pop the knot through both layers. Repeat until your entire quilt is bound.