I’m one step away from finishing my first quilt! Just the binding left to go.
Only the binding left to do!
I am not sure if you can see properly but as well as the horizontal lines in the off-white strips I’ve done a sort of square zig-zag through the patterned rows.
I promise to post a whole host of close-ups and better pictures once I have completely finished it!
The pattern is from ohfrannson, but it doesn’t contain any instructions on how to quilt, quite reasonably since there are loads of tutorials and tips on the internet! Nonetheless this left me a bit too scared to quilt, but having my first completely free weekend for a while which is likely to be my last for another long while, I decided to just get on with it!
I bought a walking foot from eBay, and used the instructions from justquilty to attach it to my machine – the instructions are SO simple I would definitely recommend it to anyone else struggling to install their walking foot. Also, mine was a reasonably cheap (~£10) one rather than the £30 Singer one, and it seems to work just fine! I absolutely adore the walking foot, and can see myself using it for other projects now too :)
Next up – the binding. Eep! I am slightly terrified by this, as anyone who saw the mess I made of my Sorbetto will understand. I think this time I will buy the real stuff, from John Lewis or a reliable eBay/etsy store, rather than what I have now discovered was a cheap and uneven version (which I bought from an Indian fabric store in Ilford, East London).
Does anyone have any tips for the binding? I don’t know what thickness of binding I should use, or whether I should try rounded or mitred corners? I would be very grateful for any advice – hopefully I’ll get some time in the next couple of weeks to pop to JL and maybe even to actually tackle the binding :)
I feel like I have learned so much already working on this quilt. I have more of an appreciation for consistent seam allowances, and the usefulness of a walking foot, and that it is sometimes necessary to manually walk the machine through a few stitches, and that you should definitely check the bobbin occasionally to avoid horrendous moments when you run out of thread at the start of a metre-long line and don’t realise until the end. I think this won’t be my last ever quilt :)
If you do mitred corners practise loads first! They are simple but when you have all those layers it’s very easy to make a mess. I always do.
You can get binding feet which hold it in place when you machine stitch. Not tried but it’s on my lottery list.
Good luck! Think what you’ve done so far looks beautiful.
H
What an awesome quilt! It is going to make a wonderful present. Handmade presents are the absolute best because so much time and thought went into the piece.
I first learned how to bind after making a small, baby- sized quilt and I looked up tons of tutorials for help (You could make a little mini- quilt and practice binding on it- mini quilts are so cute).
Machine binding- http://www.cluckclucksew.com/2013/01/machine-binding-tutorial.html
Using machine and hand stitching- http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-to-bind-quilt-and-other-quilty.html
I hope these tutorials help!
Good luck! :-)
Congrats on your first quilt, it looks great, I’ll look forward to more pictures when you’re finished! My all time favorite sources for quilt tutorials are the Gourmet Quilter
and the Missouri Star Quilt Company
Both of these are excellent tutorials. I prefer to do mitered corners, and although I’ve done both ways, I prefer to machine stitch it onto the back, then roll it over and hand stitch the front.
You’re at the most exciting part, good for you! If you have any questions, I’m happy to help,
All the best,
Jeanne
Sorry, don’t know why it left a video pic instead of just a link…yikes!
Hi, ended up my first quilt last week… and I loved to do the binding… It was the youtube tutorial of the Missouri quilt company (JeanneR posted this hint too)… your work until now looks great! And me after the 1st finished want to do also more quilts now!!! Good luck with your binding!
That looks great! I’m in the middle of my second proper quilt (not including rag quilts) – it is addictive. You don’t need to use bias tape if you do mitred corners. I used 2.5 inch strips of fabric on my last quilt, joined with 45 degree seams. I highly recommend watching some you tube videos to give you confidence before you start!
Looks great! And it looks like you got a lot of great suggestions. Can’t wait to see the finished product!
Thank you all so much for your helpful comments! I practised the mitred corners on a quick coaster and then finally did the real thing over the last week or so – got a couple of bits of the quilt which I want to tidy up before I post it but I am really happy with it. I would never have been able to finish it without all the comments and advice on here, thank you :) xx