When we think about finishing a quilt, we think about binding.  But as we discussed in our first article in this series, washing and blocking are finishing steps that should ideally take place before the binding is applied.  These important activities ensure that your quilt is square and hangs straight, which will make applying the binding more successful.

This article is not about how to bind a quilt.  I believe there are many excellent resources on this topic, including All About Quilting from A to Z from Quilter’s Newsletter, Quiltmaker, and C&T Publishing.  Rather, this article will describe a well-executed binding and offer some tips on how to achieve these standards.

As a Canadian Quilters’ Association (CQA/ACC) Certified Quilt Judge, I have inspected many quilts and their bindings.  So many issues are often apparent that I wonder if quilters really do know how to apply a binding properly or whether we are just so anxious to finish the quilt that we don’t take as much care on the binding as we do on the rest.  Perhaps it’s a little of both.  Drawing from the CQA/ACC Quilting Standards, let’s take a look at how a binding should look.

Binding should be neatly and securely stitched, front and back
Bindings are often machine stitched to the front of the quilt then turned and hand stitched to the back of the quilt.  With this approach, the line of machine stitching serves as a guide for the hand stitching.  Choosing a thread that closely matches the binding fabric and pulling each blind stitch tight will ensure good results.

Other times, the binding is machine stitched to the back of the quilt then turned and machine stitched to the front.  While it is fairly manageable to keep the machine stitching neat and even on the front…

Front

… it is extremely difficult to keep the stitching even on the back.

Back

For this reason, when machine stitching instead of hand stitching, it might be preferable to use a decorative stitch that covers more of the seam.

Binding should be uniformly filled
This means that the three layers of the quilt – quilt top, batting, and backing – should reach right out to the outer folded edge of the binding.  The mistake I tended to make was leaving only a quarter-inch seam allowance around the edge of my completed quilt.  A 2-½” double-fold binding finishes closer to 3/8″, which means many of those bindings have empty space in them!  Now I make my final border an inch or two wider so I have room for squaring it up and I don’t trim the excess until after the binding has been machine stitched to the front.

Binding should be straight and a consistent width
Okay, this one doesn’t appear on the CQA/ACC standards.  Maybe they felt it was so obvious, it didn’t need to be stated.  But a wobbly, uneven binding can really detract from the overall appearance of a quilt.

Uneven binding

Straight, even binding

The trick here, once again, lies in the quilt itself.  After washing and blocking the quilt, carefully measure and mark the final width and length measurements from the center out to each edge.  Debra Wagner, in her article “Master Class Part Eight: Preparing the Quilt for Binding” (Quilter’s Newsletter No. 303, June 1998), suggests stabilizing the edges of the quilt before binding.  Once the quilt has dried, but before moving it off the floor, hand stitch 1/8″ satin ribbon along the edge where it will be permanently enclosed in the binding.  I tried this with my quilt Instruments of Praise and look how that turned out!

Binding should be appropriate to the design of the quilt top
This point certainly applies from an aesthetic point of view, considering factors such as finished width, choice of fabric, or whether a binding is even the best edge finish.  But it is also relevant from a technical standpoint as well.  For example, quilts with curved edges should be finished with bias binding.  Turning the backing under is usually the best way to finish quilts with decorative edges, such as prairie points or clamshells.  Quilts with uneven edges might benefit from a knife-edge finish or even a facing.

The uneven edge of this Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt …

… is finished with facing.

If bias binding is used, it should be true bias
True bias means the binding strips are cut on the diagonal grain, 45-degrees from the straight of grain.  Because the bias stretches, it is most often used for curved edges.  Great care must be used to apply bias binding to straight edges.  Pin it to the edges of the quilt without pulling or stretching and use a walking foot on your sewing machine to avoid further distortion while stitching.

Curved corners should flow smoothly without puckers
I must confess that I have not made or bound a quilt with curved edges, so I can’t really add any tips or comments to this point.  However, the quilt I have just started seems like it might want a nice scalloped border, so stay tuned.  I may learn a whole lot more about curved corners and bias binding!

Square corners should be 90 degrees
There are two main ways to bind a square corner:  butted or mitered.  Either way, it is critical that the quilt itself has 90-degree corners!  While it might seem that butted corners are easier to stitch, they are in fact quite difficult to finish evenly.  The extra bulk tends to pull one edge away from a true 90-degree edge.

In the end, mitered corners are more likely to finish at a true 90 degrees.  Plus, when you hand stitch the miter seam closed, you can truly create a crisp, square corner.

One final tip on binding
If possible, prepare your binding strips after the quilt top is completed and before layering and quilting.  It may, after all, be months (or years) until the quilting is finished.  There is something wonderful about having that binding waiting and ready to go the moment the quilt is ready for it!