84 Quiltmaker• May/June’20
BackingandBasting
Makethequiltbacking4"–8"largerthanthequilttop.Remove
theselvagestoavoidpuckers.Usually2 or3 lengthsmustbe
sewntogether;presstheseamallowancesopen.Placethebacking
wrongsideupona flatsurface,stretchslightlyandtapeorpinin
place.Smooththebattingoverthebacking.Centerthequilttop
rightsideupontopofthebatting.Pinthelayersasnecessaryto
securethemwhilebasting.
BastingforMachineQuilting
Topstobemachinequiltedmaybebasted
withrustproofsafetypins.Beginatthecenter
andplacepins3"to4"apart,avoidinglinestobe
quilted.
BastingforHandQuilting
Beginninginthecenterofthequilt,baste
horizontalandverticallines4"to6"apart.
Binding
Bastearoundthequilt^3 ⁄ 16 " fromtheedges.Trimthebattingand
backing¼"beyondtheedgeofthequilttop.
Topreparethebindingstrips,placetheendsof 2
bindingstripsperpendiculartoeachother,rightsides
together.Stitchdiagonallyandtrimto¼".Inthis
way,joinallthestripsandpresstheseamallowancesopen.
Cutthebeginningofthebindingstripata 45 ̊angle.Foldthe
bindingstripinhalfalongthelength,wrongsidestogether,and
press.Startinginthemiddleofa sideandleavinga 6"tailofbind-
ingloose,aligntherawedgesofthebindingwiththe
edgeofthequilttop.Beginsewing
thebindingtothequiltusinga ¼"
seamallowance.Stop¼"fromthe
firstcorner;backstitch.Remove
theneedlefromthequiltand
cutthethreads.
Foldthebindingup,thenbackdown
evenwithedgeofthequilt.Beginstitch-
ing¼"fromthebindingfold,backstitch
tosecureandcontinuesewing.Repeat
atallcorners.Whennearingthestarting
point,leaveatleast12"ofthe
quiltedgeunboundanda 10"
to12"bindingtail.Smooththe
beginningtailovertheend-
ingtail.Followingthecut
edgeofthebeginningtail,
drawa lineontheending
tailata 45ºangle.Toadd
a seamallowance,drawa cuttingline½"outfromthefirstline;
makesureit guidesyoutocutthebindingtail½"
longerthanthefirstline.Cutonthissecondline.
Tojointheends,placethemrightsides
together.Offsetthepointsso
thestripsmatch¼"infromthe
edgeandsew.Presstheseam
allowancesopen.Pressthesectionofbindinginhalfandthenfin-
ishsewingit tothequilt.Trimawayexcessbackingandbattingin
thecornersonlytoeliminatebulk.
Foldthebindingtothebackofthequilt,enclosing
theextrabattingandbacking.Blindstitchthebind-
ingfoldtothebacking,justcoveringtheprevious
lineofstitching.
BiasBinding
Biasbindingstripsarecutata 45°angletothegrainofthefab-
ric.Theyarestretchyandthereforeidealforbindingcurvededges.
Makeyourfirstcutbyaligninga 45°guidelineonyouracrylic
rulerwiththecutedgeorselvage
ofyourfabric.Usethisnewbias
edgetocut 21 ⁄ 4 "stripsforbinding.
Referto“Binding”tofinishthe
binding.¼”Quilting
Quiltin theditchreferstoquiltingright
nexttotheseamlineonthesidewithout
seamallowances.Outlinequiltingrefersto
quilting¼"fromtheseamline.Echoquilt-
ingreferstoquiltingoneormorelinesof
stitchinginuniformdistancesawayfrom
a patch.
MachineQuilting
Beforemachinequilting,bringbobbinthreadtothetopofthe
quiltsoit doesn’tgetcaughtasyouquilt:lowerpresserfoot,hold
thetopthreadandtakeonestitchdownandup,liftthepresserfoot
toreleasethethreadtensionandtugonthetopthreadtodrawa
loopofthebobbinthreadtothetopofthequilt.Pullthebobbin
threadtothetop.Lowerneedleintothesameholecreatedbythe
initialstitch,lowerthepresserfoot,andstartquilting.A walking
footis usedforstraight-lineorditchquilting.Tofree-motion
quilt,drop(orcover)thefeeddogsandusea darningfoot.Start
andendquiltinglineswith¼"ofveryshortstitchestosecure.Marking
Tracethequiltingmotifontracingpaper.Placetracingpaper
underthequilttopwitha lightsourcebehind.Lightlymarkthe
designonthequilttopwitha hardleadpencilora markerofyour
choice.Testanymarkingproductforremovabilitybeforeusingit
onyourquilt.
Straightlinesmaybe“marked”asyouquiltbyusingmasking
tapethatis pulledawayafterquiltingalongitsedge.
Miteredbordersareaddedbysewingborder
stripstoallsidesofthequiltcenterandthen
miteringeachcorner.Whenjoiningeachborder
striptothequilt,beginandendstitches¼"from
thequilttopcornersandbackstitch.Referringto
thediagrams,foldthequiltrightsidestogether
diagonallyatonecorner.Fliptheseamallowance
towardthequilttop,matchseamlinesandpin
throughbothlayersabout3"fromthecorner.Place
a ruleralongthefoldededgeofthequilttop,inter-
sectingthefinalstitchintheborderseamandextendingthrough
theborderstrip.Drawa linefromthestitchtotheouteredgeof
theborder.Pintogetheralongthepencilline.Sewalongtheline
totheedgeoftheborder;backstitch.Trimseamallowancesto¼";
pressopen.Repeatforallcorners.
45ºContinued from page 75.
Curved Piecing
Cut patches using a small-bladed rotary cutter to
maneuver curves. With right sides together, pin the
convex patch to the inside, or concave, curve of the
second patch at the middle, the ends and a few places in
between. Sew with the concave patch on the top, stop-
ping frequently with the needle down to adjust the fabric to lay
fl at under the needle and presser foot. After stitching, press the
seam allowance toward the convex piece.ConcaveConvex