"Jailhouse Rock" quilt and a binding tutorial

jailhouse rock quilt



jailhouse rock quilt

I called this one my "jailhouse rock" quilt....not sure why.  Using all my red and black scraps thrown in with bleached-to-white-muslin just made me rock.  But, after all was said and done, with all this busy-ness, I could not find a binding that wanted to finish this quilt for me.  Hmmmmmm..........

Several years ago, on a Nancy's Notions TV show, I saw Nancy sew strips of different fabrics together to make yardage for a bias binding.  Since then I have used this technique over and over again to make bias binding. 

So easy....here's how.  I gather fabric strips from 2 1/2" to 12" wide and 15"-24" long.

scraps for bias binding

Then, using my ruler as my guide, I lay the strips out, staggering along the 45 degree angle.  By staggering, fabric is not wasted....you are going to cut off any fabric that is above the 45 degree angle.

stagger fabric strips at 45 degree angle



sew strips, then cut at 45 degree angle


I usually cut my bindings 2 1/4" wide. A piece that is 12" x 24" will yield approximately 90" of binding!

approx 90-100 inch yield


Now, sew all the strips back together end-to-end for one continuous length of bias binding. 


sew bias strips end to end

Since there are so many "loose ends" it is truly advisable to fold in half at this point and go ahead and baste 1/8" from raw edge before attaching to quilt top.  This extra step will save a lot of stretched-binding heart break!

fold in half and baste slightly inside from raw edge


finished

4 comments :

  1. That is a really cool binding technique!

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  2. Thanks, Vicki. I've used this a lot on baby quilts, doll quilts, picnic quilts...well, you get the picture!

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  3. This is very interesting! Esp the 1/8th inch basting! I have a quilt almost at that step. (My one and only-started before having my first child in '81-Oh dear!)
    Thanks for the tips.

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  4. Beautiful work, love the binding!

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