I left off with the green and tan needing quilting. (Reverse history starts here.) Finished that a couple days ago.
The green is as I had planned all along (don’t know name of it; it reminds me of the “pipes” screensaver); the tan I had been undecided. First thought was to do the same wonky triangle ( Night Quilter’s tutorial here )as on the narrower sashing; second was that the circles in the peach sashing by the map fabric needed “company.” Well, when you can’t decide, do both. I figured out how to alternate spirals with the enlarged triangles.
Today I finished the binding.
The white pillows are to show the dark brown binding since it doesn’t show up against my black sofa. The idea was to echo the border of the photos and their dark outline on the print. Don’t know if it does that, or if it matters.
A question. I’ve read about clips to hold binding. Do you use them? Or pin bindings? I pin only the corners. It has seemed to me that adjusting the fabric as I go (I’m talking about the second stitching ) doesn’t take any more time than removing clips as I go. So far I’ve not had bubble trouble; it has ended even. I do top stitch the binding from the front for the finish. Might be different if I tried Stitch in the Ditch from the back.
Another question. Do you pin the binding when you do the first stitching? I didn’t. I just took my chances that seams wouldn’t hit the corners because they never had. Then one day they did, and the thickness was a major pain to stitch. My machine complained bitterly and almost didn’t do it. Now I pin fairly widely. When I come to corners I have to remove only one or two pins to make the mitre.
And the backing.
I was tickled to find a print with most of the same colors as the front. I’d wanted print so quilting would show less. On the front I matched thread to fabric (a royal pain) so quilting would show less. This was, after all, a practice quilt. I’d not thought about that when choosing all those solids.
I’m thinking my quilting signature will have to be uneven stitches and dented spirals. At least for a while. But it will hold together and keep someone warm. And maybe the dents won’t show once it is washed.
Linking with Free Motion Mavericks.
Come Friday I’ll join the various finish links: LAFF and TGIFF , Finish it up Friday.
Now off to pin the first made/last quilted bunk quilt.
knitNkwilt 
Yes, I will very loosely pin my binding when I first stitch it on to be sure to avoid the joining seams do not end up on the corners – Maybe 2-4 pins per side depending on the size of the quilt. Especially since I use double fold binding and that would result in a very, very thick miter. I’ve recently started using the clips rather than pinning, but often will pin the miter when stitching the 2nd time. As most of my quilts are baby/infant charity quilts I stitch on the back and fold to the front and use a decorative stitch to finish it.
Great quilt! I always lay out the quilt on the floor with the binding to be sure that seams are away from the corners. Once it’s stitched down by machine, I use about three or four pins and yes, I do get pricked, but I can’t get the hang of those clips. I gave the ones I tried away.
I love your comment about your quilting signature. I know I couldn’t do what you do, so I’m in awe of your expertise already. I know. You practice. =) I love your outer border decision, and I like the brown binding. I tend to generally like dark bindings to hold the quilt in. I don’t do the second side by machine, so I can’t offer you anything there. With the hand binding, I use binding clips, which are really just those snappy hair barrettes. You can see them in my picture from yesterday’s post. When I machine sew the first side, I don’t pin, no. All four of my corners came out so perfectly this time, and I think it’s because Debra sewed down the edges of the quilt before she trimmed the excess batting and backing off. It made SUCH a difference!
I also do not pin my binding. rarely do I have a problem with a join hitting the corner…but it has happened. I too have started using the colored clips for hand stitching when I stitch down the binding on the back. I really like how you finished the last part of this bunk quilt..it really came out fun.
and the backing works so great!
I lay my binding out along the edge to make sure that the seams don’t meet at the corners, but no I don’t pin down the first stitch. Way to go on the quilting! Great job! Thanks for linking up to TGIFF!
I love the alternating spirals and triangles. Great way to incorporate both! As for binding, I generally lay out my binding on the floor to see if I have enough binding, and at the same time check that the seams do not hit the corner. It has only happened once and the seam was still far enough off that my corner was not affected. I do not pin or clip my bindings. I have tried both (though using office supply binding clips not the ones made for quilters) and it did not noticeably improve my results. Binding is still an area I need to improve on, so I am not sure how useful my experience is!
Thanks for the answers, folks! I’ve gotten some hints and also some confirmations from you all. 🙂
Hello Claire,
Congratulations on the finish! The alternating triangles and spirals work really well together in the quilt border. You must be so pleased with the end result!
Binding – seams and corners are a nightmare, so I always check where the seams are going to end up before starting to put the binding on. Recently I stopped well short of a corner when putting the binding on and cut out a section to shift the seam so it came before the corner rather than on it.
Pins – I never use them, instead I use hair grips, only two or three, and keep moving them as I go.
You might find these two posts helpful:-
http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/using-seam-guide-when-binding-quilt.html
http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/mitred-corners-about-year-ago-i-did-my.html
Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks!
Love, Muv