Thursday 17 January 2008

Some Kaffe-binding love

A few comments about my Mum's Kaffe quilt has given me food for thought - thanks to Lara, Jodie, and Louise! Thanks so much for the encouraging words - they stay with me particularly when I struggle with the project.

The Binding: I never even think about the binding until it is necessary to put it on. I often use the backing material as the binding (hence, using same range fabric), but both Jodie and Louise asked what I would do as the binding and I found it interesting that two people asked the same question.

Do others consider this piece of the quilty puzzle as essential as parts of the quilt top itself? Is it another border of the quilt, or just an edging for completion? Do you use a different pattern to highlight the rest of the design or one to blend in?
Rarely do we hang our quilts on walls in order to see the whole at one time - mine love to lay comfortably crumpled over a couch end, or on a little person asleep, so the binding is not always seen.

How wide do you make your binding and do you have a fail-safe method of joining the two ends?

I usually do a 2 and 1/2 inch wide binding, and then do the 'tuck-in' method of joining the ends, but there are always lumpy bits which I pretend are not there! Try as I might, I have not found a really clear explanation of doing the other method (45 degree angle cut and sew). I have such an issue with instructions and diagrams -I have to re-read them 100 times over and even then, I'm just not sure! does anyone else have this problem?

Edit: I don't make my binding finish as 2 and 1/2 inch - I start with that width and end up with aprox. 1 inch wide - give or take.

Talking about Kaffe - have you seen the new range? Very William Morris inspired - Oh, to have to buy more fabric - what's a girl to do? Both of these images are from Sew Mama Sew.

2 comments:

Louise said...

Binding!!!! It's the frame to the quilt! You must go to Amitie and have a look at all their quilts in store - or get the latest Better Homes and Gardens and see what they have done. Stripes are very 'in' at the moment and a good binding can make all the difference to the wow factor in any quilt. Mind you yours looks pretty wow as it is. I use the Heather Bailey continuous binding tutorial she has on her blog - it's fantastic. And I do a 2.5" binding which finishes as a .5" double thickness binding either side - which sounds like what you do.

Unknown said...

Hi. I found the best tutorial on how to end your binding at that nice 45 degree angle. And it's a video, so you won't have to decipher written instructions: http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/video/howtovideos.html

Search for the one entitled "Binding With a No Show Joint". It changed my life. Really. Good luck!