In a previous post, I started experimenting with sewing quilt binding on the back of the quilt and then bringing it around to the front and appliquéing it down by machine (instead of sewing it to the front of the quilt, wrapping it around, and hand-stitching it on the back of the quilt).
I felt the experiment was successful, but the process needed refining. I’m going to give it another go. 🙂
This time I cut the binding strips 2 1/4″ wide. I still want the binding to be wider on the front of the quilt than the back (so that I don’t catch the binding in the appliqué stitching), but not as wide as in my first experiment.
I started by sewing the folded binding to the back of the quilt with a 1/4″ seam.Then I wrapped the binding around to the front of the quilt, using Wonder Clips to hold it in place, and removed the clips as I worked my way around the quilt.
The small zigzag stitch with .004 monofilament thread is hard to see – right now it’s actually easier to see the holes in the fabric left by the machine needle than anything else.After just 1 wash, it is already harder to see the machine stitching on the binding.And here is the finished quilt! It reminds me of beach glass 🙂
The fabrics in this quilt are fabrics I designed and offer for sale through my shop at Spoonflower.com. Please note that the fabrics may be a little more vivid in person than they look in these photos.
When health challenges made hand-sewing (and hand appliqué and hand-quilting) no longer physically viable for her, Beth Ann’s first instinct was dismay and discouragement. But Grandma Baldwin gave her a loving (but stern!) “No pity parties – just figure out a different way.” So Beth Ann turned to her trusty sewing machine and began devising ways to achieve the fine quality appliqué look she craved faster and easier than she ever thought possible. And a career was born!
Now Beth Ann enjoys sharing her accessible “invisible” machine appliqué and creative machine quilting techniques with other quilters and fiber artists around the world.
