Tutorials

Faux Piped Binding
I'm always on the look-out for easy ways to bind my everyday quilts.  I recently saw a technique in American Quilter magazine and thought I would give it a try.  Note that I say "everyday quilts", this is not a technique I would ever use for show quilts, in my opinion those absolutely require hand sewn bindings.

(hahaha! I'm full of myself, actually I would do this on a show quilt, after speaking with a quilt show judge they are not on the lookout for hand sewing on binding they are looking for quality of workmanship and consistency.  So yea, go on and use it on whatever quilt you desire 😀)

First you will need 2 contrasting fabrics, one for the binding and one for the piping.
Cut the binding 1 1/2"    Cut the piping 1 3/4"
Cut enough strips to go around the quilt plus 10 inches (for joining)

Sew the strips together using 1/4" seam allowance

Once the strips are sewn together, press open making sure to press the seam towards the piping fabric then fold in half, pressing as you fold

Sew this to the BACK of your quilt, using 1/4" seam and if available use a walking foot.  Make sure the piping side of the binding is facing up.

 As you approach the corner stop approximately 1/4" from the edge, backstitch, cut threads

 Fold the binding to the right, making a 45* angle to the corner
 Keeping the 45* angle in place, fold the binding back over onto itself and align the binding edge with the quilt edge. (I used a pin to keep everything stable)  Begin sewing the next side (still using 1/4" seam).  Continue sewing the sides and corners then join the ending and beginning of the binding.
 Once this is complete, press the binding and fold over to the top of the quilt.  Now you will begin stitching in the ditch between the piping and binding fabrics.  These photos illustrate sewing the corners, as you can see there is no need to cut threads simply follow the stitching around the corner


This is how the stitching looked from the back of my quilt

 And from the front.  Not bad for 2 hours worth of work on a quilt that measures ~65x65.  I will certainly do this technique again. 



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