Quilt Along Week 5: Binding the Quilt

Some materials for this quilt were provided to me by OnlineFabricStore.net.  They are a fabulous company to work with, and as always, all opinions are 100% my own!

I’ve unofficially declared this week, the week of the quilt!  I’m FINALLY sharing with all of you the finishing touches to making my first ever quilt with the help of my totally awesome friends at OnlineFabricStore.net.

In case you missed any step along the way, here are the previous posts:

Week One: Gathering Materials

Week Two: Cutting the Fabric

Week Three: Piecing the Quilt

Week Four: The Quilt Sandwich

During Week Five, I took a stab at my first experience making binding.  Let me tell you, this part was so fun!  I was finally able to start to see the quilt really come together {and there was light at the end of the tunnel}!

Remember those binding strips that I cut many weeks ago?  Luckily I didn’t lose them or throw them out!  To make the binding, sew the strips end to end to make one LONG strip.  Press open the seams and then iron the entire strip in half, lengthwise.  Once ironed, roll it up so it’s more manageable.

After the binding was prepared, I still needed to trim the extra backing and batting on my quilt.  This is where my cutting mat, rotary cutter, and acrylic rulers were once again my best friends.

To begin pinning my binding strip to the quilt, I flipped the entire quilt so that the quilt top was face down.

I pinned the binding strip to the BACK of the quilt.  The unfinished edge of the binding tape should meet up with the unfinished edge of the quilt back.  At the corners, I pinned the binding tape at a 45 degree angle and folded the fabric to continue pinning along the next side.

Once I reached the point where I started, I opened the binding and pinned the edges of the binding tape together.  I sewed the two ends together, trimmed the extra fabric and pinned in place.

I sewed the binding to the back of the quilt using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.  When I got to a corner, I lifted the sewing needle and foot, VERY carefully turned the quilt, and flipped the corner over.  Once this was done, I put the foot back down and continued to sew along the next side.

Next was the actual binding of the quilt.  I flipped the entire quilt over so that the quilt top was facing up now, folded the binding tape over to the front, and pinned it in place around the entire quilt.

Here’s how I pinned the corners:

I sewed around the entire edge of the quilt, as close to the edge of the binding as possible.

I’m SO excited to finally share my finished quilt with all of you later this week!  Check back on Friday to see my finished Fat Quarter Boy’s Toys Quilt.