Hi there!  I can’t seem to keep up with this week!  Last weekend my parents and sister were visiting, and my mom and I talked a lot about bindings.  I thought I would share a few of my tips for a seamless, and square finish to your quilts with a hand-stitched binding.  If you need more thorough directions for binding your quilt, view my tutorials for Sewing Binding to a Quilt, and Hand-stitching a Binding.

I am right handed, and work from the right to the left.  If you are left handed, work from the left to the right, so that you are pushing the needle across your body.

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As I come to a corner, I secure the binding in the seam allowance, by taking an extra stitch.  This ensures that I won’t move it while stitching the corner in place, and for all the future wear and tear…aka well loved quilt!

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Once secure I use my thumbs to press it flat to the end, then the other thumb to lay the fold over, and match the edges up.

If it doesn’t lay flat and square the first time, let go and try again.  On occasion, my seam allowance is too large to allow the fabric to fold flat.  If this is the case, carefully pull back the binding and clip the layers, just slightly, then repeat the above steps to try your fold again.  If it is necessary to clip, be sure not to cut the fold in your binding, only the seam allowances.

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To secure your corner, starting in the backing, thread the needle through the fold, then down into the other layer, and back up.

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Then back down through the corner, ending in the backing.

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Continue working a ladder stitch, up the next side!

I hope this helps some of you in your binding challenges.  I love sitting with a quilt while I bind it – I hope it’s an enjoyable process for you too!  Let me know if you have questions in the comments, and don’t forget about the links at the top if you need more direction.

Happy Quilting ~ Amy