Binding Tutorial - Part one

I finished Elizabeth's Yellow Brick Road, and now I hope to sew on 320 inches of binding in the next 24 hours!

First, we have been outside with baby K a little bit.

I had some wonderful teachers: Mary K and Faith, who work at my mom's shop. I think this is a fairly standard method for creating straight-grain bindings.

To start, I measure the perimeter of the quilt, and add 20. My current quilt measured 74 by 87, which is about 320 + 20 = 340. Divide this by 40, and that tells you how many strips to cut for your binding. I cut nine strips at 2.25 inches (two and a quarter). Sew them together on a diagonal (see part 2), trim the seam allowance and press in half.

I then take this looooong folded strip and sew the raw edge to the FRONT of my quilt, using a quarter inch seam. I start sewing in the middle of one side of the quilt, and leave at least a 10 inch tail.

When you reach a corner, stop a quarter inch from the edge, turn the quilt, and sew off through the corner:To make a mitered corner, fold the strip vertically to the top of the quilt:

Then bring it down, keeping the fold even with the edge of the quilt. You will have a little triangle "pocket" when you are done. Start sewing again using a quarter inch seam.

When you have turned the fourth corner, stop sewing, leaving a substantial gap, and bring your quilt to a cutting surface. Fold both tails so they meet somewhere in the middle. Cut the extra binding so that one inch remains on the left, and 1.25 inches remains on the right.

You are oe ready to sew the tails to make a continuous loop! Go back to the directions for part two.