At quilt class Monday night, the teacher brought some of her quilts to show the different methods of binding, or finishing. These are beauties!
I especially liked the hexagon one, the maker placed black triangles at each point of the hexagon "flower", and it was a great design call.
The Double Wedding Ring was very creative in its design, too. Each solid color of the ring has an appearance in the print next to it. That took some planning!
I was sharing with friends my method of binding. Life is too short for me to do hand stitching. Come on, "Pokey" is a well earned name, I tell ya. :-}
Today was Little Zoe's first birthday. Here's some final pictures of her quilt, and the binding is machine finished.
Even at machine stitched, sewing the binding took about 3 hours to complete. I attach mine like you hand stitch-ers do, but I attach onto the back so that my finished top seams are spot on.
If it gets off a bit in the back, I'm okay. I'm pretty picky, so I make considerations on thread color and the contrast, but usually after the wash and draw up of the quilt it is all good. I only pin at the corners, because I want those neat mitered corners!
But, I've found if I don't pin the long sides I'm able to get my seams on the binding on the back by trying to match the seam line the bobbin shows. Is that clear?
You know, I deeply appreciate the fine hand stitching of others, it just isn't reality for me. I joke that if our ancestor quilting mothers had the wonderful sewing machines we have, we probably wouldn't see the quilting done by hand.
I know, I have friends in class that say I'd get marked down in competition, but hey, most of my work is love driven, not competitive.
BTW, I have won two blue ribbons and a third place in county fairs, in machine quilting...just saying it is possible....Now, I'm only sharing this for those of you who want to try, I am not criticizing anyone else's practices! I find it a joy to sew, but I always have. I hope you keep creating and enjoying it, too.
Oh, and I'm happy to add, the "Our America" quilt raised $275 at auction! Amen!!
Happy Quilting!
Pokey