Binding spree-

I was looking forward to the long week-end with thoughts of going on a binding spree - now that I found a nifty new way to do it - HERE - ;))

I had three to play with and was going to start with the Christmas Blocks - 6x6 - Table Topper -

Friday -

I laid out the binding that I had already prepared -

And was short THIS much - LOL -

So I found the plastic bin with the left-over fabric -
And cut another strip of each color -

And decided - while I was at it -

To un-sew both sets - and add half a strip of each color to each set -

And re-cut the gold at 1-3/4" instead of 2" for the narrower flange - then re-sew them back together - using a diagonal seam instead of my usual straight one -

The second set is in the same colors for O Happy Christmas- which needs more quilting before it's ready to be bound - but getting the binding ready can't hurt -

And I have learned through the years to NEVER put fabric back in my stash until I am totally DONE with something - so the bin had exactly what I needed - ;))

And I found another use for my LEFT-EZE Rule™ -

It was perfect for trimming the binding where I joined the two strips -

I lined up the 1/4" line on the diagonal seam line from corner to corner - and trimmed at 1/4" -

Saturday -

I finished the binding for four projects -

And chose my thread colors to match -

Sunday -

I bound the FMQ Practice Piece -

The back -

The front -
The colors aren't true in this one -

The colors are more true in this one - and the binding looks pretty good -

It was a fun practice piece - with lots of not-so-good stitching - but it does have a certain "primitive" charm to it - LOL - and I can always look back at this one to see how much I have improved -

Monday -

I decided to try another method - with NO flange - HERE - and had trouble holding the folded edge under while I stitched in the ditch from the top - seems I can't walk and chew gum at the same time any more - so I decided to "cheat" and glue that sucker down on the back so that I didn't have to worry about it - LOL -

It worked especially well in the corners -

Five Stars Plus 5 is bound! -

The totally scrappy back -
Which is one my FAVORITE backs - almost as pretty as the front -

And the front -

I used straight seams when I pieced the scrappy binding - and the join at the end was also a straight seam - so unless I told you - it would be hard to tell which one was the final join - they all look alike - which is a nice effect -

The stitching from the front is in white and "in-the-ditch" - so it's hard to see - which is the whole point - LOL -

From the back - it's not my best work - but it's a learning curve - and I will definitely be trying it again -

I want to find the "sweet spot" where the binding should be sewn so it will fold over "just right" to make a uniform size on the back - so I can catch it with the stitching from the top - without having to glue it down - maybe next time - LOL -

Which leaves me with this one -

It's all trimmed and ready to go -

And it's the one I was going to do in the first place -

Before I got side-tracked -

How do I DO that? - LOL - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -