Of quilting bondage

When you consider all the aspects of quiltmaking that I'm either not terribly proficient at or don't like to do, it's a wonder I ever complete a project, much less am as prolific as I appear to be. However, the joy of fabric selection, cutting and piecing makes up for a lot of quilting's more pedestrian activities and keeps me motivated.

I was instant messaging with my daughter not too long ago and asked her why binding a quilt is so tedious. She has never made a quilt, but she will have a PhD in psychology in about four years, so it seemed a fair question. (You know, those people can help you explore your feelings about anything, right?) I imagine that she was thinking about plaid or whatever is the go-to topic she  considers when she wants to retreat from a conversation, but she did offer this: Well, it doesn't seem terribly creative.

True. In general, the act of binding consists of cutting 2.5-inch strips then sewing them together on the diagonal (ok, that's kind of fun) to create one long piece equal to the circumference of the quilt. So imagine: a 50 x 50-inch quilt requires one binding that's at least 200 inches long, plus 20 inches for joining the ends. Next, you iron the binding in half and sew it to the quilt top, using this folding trick to get a mitered corner (also kind of fun). But then, you have to join the ends of the binding so no one will know whether that's where you started/stopped or if it's one of the diagonal seams you produced when you created the binding itself.

I KNEW IT. You're all thinking about plaid.

I always feared and loathed that last step (cue the Mountaing King music) because you have to open the bindings and twist them around and stand on your head and bark like a dog to get them to join properly. I invariably sewed the ends together incorrectly and it would take me at least an hour of struggling just to get a product I wasn't happy with (you know you want me to say it: I was bound and determined to keep trying til I got it right).

Then I found The Binding Tool by Susan Brown:
http://www.missouriquiltco.com/the-binding-tool-by-susan-brown-of-tqm-products-sku-tqmbt-m.html

Like the Fons and Porter raggy flannel clipping scissors I talked about some time ago, having The Binding Tool has been a breakthrough for me. (Yes, I was in a bind without it. Wait -- who's writing this blog?)

Today I completed binding the quilt my former neighbor is giving her cancer-stricken friend. Longarm quilter Cheri Blocker did her usual amazing job and the quilt is lovely. I'll ask permission to post it here next week.

Enjoy your weekend.