Machine binding with a little help from glue

I generally make quilts for using.  I don't enter my quilts in competitions or displays so I like my binding to be strong and resilient.  I hand sew small item bindings and any that have a single binding but I machine sew my quilt bindings and I like that to look neat.  Rita's machine binding tutorial is my go to for method and I generally use a 2.25" binding, sometimes wider.  For the Baby Bear Paw quilt I decided to try a few new things.  Firstly, I used a Sizzix Bigz XL die for cutting 2.5" binding strips.

I had a beautiful binding fabric all ready to use, Art Gallery voile in Praline Honey (Village Haberdashery stocks it here).  This has a silky light texture and is a beautiful rich golden colour.  I wasn't sure if the Sizzix would cut voile cleanly but it powered through with no problems.  This die is extra long and cuts the length of the strip and not the top and bottom so it cuts folded 44" fabric into 44" long strips.  Voile is wider width so I needed to clip the end of these strips to finish them off but it still cuts far more accurately and quickly than I can on a tricky fabric like this.  

As the fabric is lighter weight a smaller size machine needle helps, 70 Microtex are great for voile and lawn.  For joining the binding strips I used a leader to stop the machine from swallowing the edge of the fine fabric.  

A leader is a little scrap of material folded over, placed under your machine to start a seam.  You stitch the leader and then keep sewing onto your seam- my machine doesn't need this help on quilting weight but anything fine or slippy benefits from this.

I stitched the binding on to the front of the quilt as usual, but on the back instead of pinning like crazy so I can machine from the front I used a little basting glue. I used Roxanne Baste it which is a temporary fabric glue with a long fine tip so tiny amounts can be applied.

 A fabric glue stick doesn't work well on a big sticking job like this.  The applicator on the Baste-it is very helpful at getting the glue exactly where you want it.  I worked on around 24" at a time and applied glue to the quilt seam allowance.

Clover Wonder clips are perfect for holding down the binding until the glue dries.  I used a pin for each corner.

Once tacked down with the glue I flipped the quilt to the right side to stitch in the ditch just catching the binding on the back.  You do need to make sure that your spool and bobbin threads match the front fabric and binding fabric.

This really sped up the binding process. it meant no unpicking and re-sewing which is what I usually have to do especially at the corners.  The corners were the best bit, it made for excellent corners!  This is the binding from the back (top of pic with label) and front, (bottom of pic).

I hope this helps any of you who like to use machine binding.

The Baby Bear Paw quilt plan is here

Making the blocks is here

Completing the top is here

Spiral quilting is here

Baby Bear Paw: Almost Wordless Wednesday

 More to come on binding and quilting spirals ...

Baby Bear Paw Quilt Plan

I have a baby nephew on the way very soon so I need to get on and make a baby quilt.  I saw glimpses of  Timber and Leaf by Sara Watts  a few months back and knew I had to have it.  I ordered a selection from Eternal Maker and some 'Seaside'  October Afternoon by Riley Blake which goes with it perfectly.

Beautiful colours and prints

Seaside October Afternoon is on the left, Timber and Leaf on the right.

Here is my plan, based on a bear paw quilt block, very simple and easy- Baby Bear Quilt.   The fabrics are doing the work in this quilt so I wanted plenty of space for the picture designs.  The large 12" squares will be alternating Fawn in birch grey/ bear brush beat in taupe prints- I have a half yard of each.  I am using a selection of FQs for the half square triangles, the plaid for the binding- that may change, and a mix of the yellows for the crisscrossing centre strip and some quilting plans for those strips too.

I'll be posting all the details online as I make it.  I have a heavy workload at the moment so I can't guarantee exactly when but this needs to get made in the next month so that gives me a push to get going!  I will be including cutting details for using a Sizzix Big Shot as well as standard half square triangles.  I had this sent to me before Christmas for a project and you can see from the cutting pads, it has been in constant use.  The half square triangle dies are a joy to use and I went and bought a 2.5" square die immediately for sorting scraps.

Here are the other posts so you can cut, sew, quilt and bind your Baby Bear Paw Quilt.

Making the blocks is here

Completing the top is here

Spiral quilting is here
Binding with glue is here