Cord Bound Edge Treatment......Tutorial

I thought I would share a quick tutorial on an

alternative edge treatment for an art quilt.

This is how I add a cord to the edge of the quilt:

Click Images to Enlarge:

This corded edge is another option for your art quilt bindings.

Choose a decorative stitch...

Stitch it all the way around the edge of your quilt.

I prefer a stiff cord...

like this rolled leather-like cording.

I use a thread that matches the cord color.

Zig Zag Stitch the cord to the edge of the quilt.

Be sure the needle goes all the way to the

right outside edge of the cord.

Do not stitch into the cord.

When you come to a corner stop stitching a few inches away.

Bend the cording to line up with the corner, like in the photo below.

By bending the cord before you get to the corner,

there is no distortion of the quilt.

Continue sewing down until you reach the bottom of the quilt...

An open toe applique foot gives the best visibility for this technique.

Keep the needle in the down position on the outside edge of the cord.

Keep the cord pushed up against the needle.

Raise up the presser foot...

Gently pivot the quilt around...

Keeping the cord against the needle.

When lined up straight with the next side of the quilt,

Drop the presser foot and continue to sew the next side.

Repeat this process until you are on the fourth and last side of the quilt.

Continue stitching until you are a few inches from the beginning of the cording where you started from.

Trim the end so it is flush against the beginning of the cord.

You just want the two ends to kiss together.

Continue to stitch the cord to the side of the quilt edge.

I stitch over the beginning stitches for a half inch or so.

Then I do a teeny tiny straight stitch to lock it in place.

This makes a nice finish.

Alternative Edge Treatments are just one more way to add the last bit of design work to your art quilts.

CLICK HERE to see the completed quilt

Learn this Cord Bound Edge Treatment in my

Adventures in Mixed Media Class

CLICK HERE to find out more

CLICK HERE to view my Art Quilts

CLICK HERE to view Traditional Binding Tips

CLICK HERE to view Curved Binding Tips

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full of Bindings,

LuAnn

Cattle Quilt Done.....Day 3 Final Post

Day 3 Cattle Quilt.......Final Post

Click Images to Enlarge:

2:00 Machine Quilting Complete

3 Bobbins and 3 Hours later......the Quilting is DONE

Blocked

The quilt has been blocked and is now ready to be trimmed and bound.

Back of Cattle Quilt

Love the pine cones on the back of the quilt.

The Bottom Line Thread blended in beautifully.

The person this quilt is intended for, grew up in pine tree country.

Trimmed and ready for Binding

Binding Strips sewn on Diagonal

See my previous post for a tutorial on this method.

The diagonal seam distributes the bulk of the seam.

There is no bulk in the seam area when you roll the binding around the edge of the quilt.

Binding Technique

A coffee can on the floor catches the pressed binding strip.

Binding Strips

They are easily transported from the pressing area over to the sewing area.

Binding the Quilt

Yes, that is Suzy the little Quilting Doggie asleep under the sewing machine.

I place the coffee can between my feet....the binding feeds flawlessly onto the quilt surface.....works every time!

Binding Tin

I have been using this little tin can to hold my binding supplies for more than 20 years.

I found it at a garage sale.......full of hair pins. I use the pins to secure the binding around to the front side of the quilt while I am hand stitching.

It is now 3:30 and I am heading into the house to get a bite to eat and begin hand stitching the binding to the back side of the quilt.

As of now I have about 17 hours into this quilt. I am fortunate that it was a simple quilt, with big pieces (I designed it as I went along), and I chose a simple quilting motif with no thread changes. I had a 3 day window of opportunity to work on this quilt.

Why did I show you so much of the process?

When I began quilting over 22 years ago.......I struggled and struggled and struggled.

We all have a starting point.....we were all beginners at one time.

This post has been for all of the beginners out there.

Learn and make many quilts to keep your loved ones cozy.

May Your Life be Filled with Quilts,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

Raffle Quilt......Women's Cancer Coalition

Click Images to Enlarge:

In May 2009 the Harlan Valley Quilters of Harlan Oregon pieced this floral quilt top.

It is a Disappearing 9 Patch Technique.

CLICK HERE to view a tutorial.

This week I put a scallop binding on it.

After I marked the placement of the scalloped line all around the edges of the quilt, I sewed the BIAS binding on it....following my marked line.

NEVER cut the edge off until the binding is completely sewn down by machine.

This is a bias edge, and it will stretch if you cut it BEFORE you sew on the binding.

Now you are ready to trim off the excess quilt edges.

I snip directly into where the 2 scallops meet. Cut right up to your sewing line.

Be very careful not to cut into the stitching.

TIP: I like to leave an extra 1/8 inch beyond the edge of the binding.

This gives me a full binding when I fold it over to the back.

You do not want your binding to feel hollow.

You want it nice and full and round.

This is what the quilt edge will look like after you have trimmed off all of the excess quilt edge.

TIP: I like to trim a bit at first, then fold the binding over to the back to see if I have enough edge to fill the binding up nice and plump.

The next thing you need is a 10 hour road trip over to Eastern Oregon 500 miles one way....then back home again......to get the binding sewn down to the back side!

We pulled in the driveway last night at midnight.....and the binding was done!

I just love travel stitching...

This photo with the flash turned off really enhances the quilting stitches.

Long Arm Quilting donated by Linda Alexander of

The Oregon Quilting Company, Corvallis, Oregon

"Vintage Beauty"

Donated by JanniLou Creations Quilt Shop of Philomath, Oregon

To the Women's Cancer Coalition.

Raffle tickets will be sold through October 2010 for this quilt.

Proceeds will benefit Women's Cancer Programs.

CLICK HERE to see who won this Quilt

May All Your Quilts be Scalloped,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

Binding Grandmothers Flower Garden Quilt...

Machine Quilting by Day.........Hand Binding by Night

It is Amazing what a Deadline will do for you!

Click Images to Enlarge:

Grandmothers Flower Garden Quilt

90 x 100 inches

1993 - 2003 This Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt traveled everywhere with me. It was my "Take-A-Long" Quilt. It has traveled on planes, trains and automobiles. Using the English Paper Piecing method, I hand pieced over 12,000 half inch hexagons at: football games, basketball games, wrestling tournaments, the dentist & orthodontists offices, the pediatricians, family vacations, at Seattle Mariner games...it was my constant companion......many times I was tempted to piece a hexagon while sitting at a rather long stop light in town.

I only pieced this quilt while I was away from home.......so it turned into a 10 year take-a-long quilt project. After the top was all pieced, I began to hand quilt it, but the pain in my wrists and hands from carpal tunnel soon let me know that I would never be able to complete it. I removed the hand quilting stitches and sent it off to a highly recommended long arm quilter in Idaho. She quilted feathered circles in the center of each flower. I used a wool batting and the quilt is absolutely yummy.

My personal quilts tend to get put on the back burner. The quilts that have deadlines are the ones that get completed quickly. I have never set a deadline for one of my own quilts. My quilt exhibit in September has given me a BIG DEADLINE to complete my own personal quilts. It is just the push I needed to get this quilt out and get to work on it again.

Yesterday I sewed the bias binding on the top side of the quilt with the sewing machine. Last night I brought it to the house and began hand stitching the binding to the backside.

I use hair clips to hold the binding around the edge of the quilt. The clips help to relieve the strain on my hands and wrists while I am stitching the binding in place. I don't struggle trying to hold the binding in place, the clips do that for me. I am able to bind for hours without any fatigue to my hands.

This is my Binding Tin.......I found it years and years ago at a garage sale with hair clips already in it. I added a small pair of scissors, a wooden needle case, Thread Heaven thread conditioner, and thread to match my binding fabric. All of these supplies live in this little red tin and are always ready when I need to bind a quilt.

The best part of this quilt is........the yellow center in every flower block is a piece of fabric cut from my grandmother's house dress......making this TRULY a Grandmothers Flower Garden Quilt. I have named it......In The Presence of the Past.

P.S. To answer a few of the questions I have rec'd since posting this:

1. I started out with a fanny pack around my waist. It contained a zip loc bag with fabric hexagons and paper hexagons, thread, needle, nail clippers and beeswax (I later switched to Thread Heaven conditioner). I was able to sit quietly and piece hexagons, going mostly unnoticed at any event I was attending. I sat in a church at weddings and pieced and nobody even noticed. This gets addicting once you get started. Every idle minute you have away from home, you want to be piecing on your take-a-long quilt.

2. These are mini-hexagons, each of the 6 sides measures one half inch. A standard hexagon is 2 inches on each side....much quicker to put together.

3. There are 63 mini hexagons in each flower. A flower takes about 10 hours to hand piece. There are 150 flowers in this quilt........1,500 hours to piece the top.

4. 5 spools of thread.....2,500 yards of thread to piece the quilt top.

5. This is made entirely from scraps of fabric. Over the years I rec'd fabrics from people who knew my history with this quilt, had watched me work on it for years, and wanted to add to the quilt........I gladly included the donated tiny bits of fabric in this quilt, which makes me cherish it even more.

5. ALL of my nieces helped with cutting hexagons from fabric, pinning the papers to them and putting them in zip loc bags for me. They enjoyed choosing the fabrics and designing flowers for me to sew. I cherished my time with my nieces. Two of them eventually became quilters! LOTS of warm and wonderful memories come to mind when I look at this Grandmothers Flower Garden Quilt.

In My Cozy Spot Binding,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE