Thank you again. I watched the latest video, and then left the machine on to replay the older ones while I fell asleep. So soothing and friendly is your manner that I had a lovely nap. I've been ill, and the gently peacefulness of your videos was most welcome. And that's to say nothing of the content, which is always useful.
Aww! Thank you, Sarah. I'm so glad that my videos are providing peace and calm for you...it is something we all need more of these days! ❤️ Hope you get well soon!🙏🏻
Thank you! ❤️🥰 When I make mistakes in my own quilting, I think, "I wish I had known that could happen! What could I have done to prevent it?" I want other people to benefit from my mistakes and ignorance!
I admit I'm not quilting and won't be making this quilt any time soon. But did I watch the entire video? Absolutely... while I snapped several quarts of green beans! Hand sewing and harvest processing are somehow the perfect combination.
Another great, clear, concise video. I love the mindful practice of hand sewing the back of a binding, it feels like the reward for all the work that has gone into a quilt.
I’m with you… I love hand binding! It means the quilt is almost done and I’m the first to sit with it. It’s an extra special time if I’m going to give the quilt away 🥰
I agree, 100%!! Just sitting with it (as you said, especially if it’s being given away) stitching while it’s in my lap…it’s the last time I get to handle the quilt and enjoy/admire the pattern or the fabric choices or the handiwork. It’s just the best!
I love hand binding too. Besides enjoying the quilt one last time, I will take a fast snooze in my chair with it. I say I need to make sure it works. 😊
Hi Cathy, after watching this video, I think I am ready to tackle my second binding, your concise instructions on what to do when you have come back to the beginning where you started sewing your binding makes so much sense. I have done one quilt and it was just luck that it worked out 😊, but I have saved your video so I can rewatch every time I do a binding until it becomes automatic. Can’t thank you enough. Happy quilting 🥰
I always hand stitch the binding to - its just my choice. Always used to iron my binding too - until your last video! I, very sceptically, gave it a go without ironing - and you know what - its went on much flatter 😂. Thank you for the tip - every day's a school day!!
Thread Heaven or beeswax will help reduce the knotting on too long thread. Some thread behaves better if you sew with the twist, but I find that coating the thread helps even the most ill- behaved thread.
Lady, I have been meaning to try waxing my thread (saw on another RU-vid quilting video) but I never think of it until I'm sitting down ready to sew!🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️ I'm going to order some tomorrow at your recommendation so I will have it for next time! Thanks for the suggestion! ❤️
I’m not sure if this is with the twist, but have learned when hand sewing, that if I knot the end of the thread that I first pull off the spool, it doesn’t tend to knot.
@@TheCatBirdQuilts Do remember to draw the thread through your fingers after you’ve waxed it. Your body head will help coat the thread and you will draw off excess wax you may pick up. Frankly, I prefer the beeswax I bought from a local apiary a few years ago to what is marketed to sewists. I find that it’s a bit softer and it smells more of honey. The sensory experience is important to me, the whole thing is a sensory focused, medatative hobby (I embroider more than quilt) and anything that makes it more beautiful and satisfying increases the pleasure I get from it. I was happy with the disc of beeswax in the plastic holder for many years until I tried this, though.
@@ladyflimflam pretty sure we have some great local apiaries so I will check with them first-always happy to give someone local my business! And thanks for the tips for the best way to use it! ❤️
That was the best explanation of binding I've ever seen. Thanks for all that you have shown and will show in this series. You are an inspiration to me.
Watching you attach and hand sew down your binding helped me solve some of the difficulties I've had in doing so. You do use a slightly different method of machine sewing the binding at the corner, ( as shown by other youtubers) but I like yours and will give it a try. Thank you !
Greetings from a crisp southwest Ohio☕️. I like the look of a hand stitched binding and your video shows a very clear demonstration. Mostly I finish my binding by machine because my quilts are utilitarian, but those special quilts still get hand sewn. Dress shirt quilt is in my future. Like this series.
I really liked the concise and clear instructions on sewing the binding diagonally at the end. I always just sewed a straight seam because I would get confused about the angle. I’m gonna try your way on my next quilt! Thanks so much for your clear instructions!
Purpose of binding is also to create a more durable layer on the edges that take more wear over time and can be replaced or covered in the future without damaging the quilt design......smart. I'm currently replacing a binding on a family heirloom quilt to refresh it. I wish quilts I inherited had tags...
Great tutorial. I also press the binding on the front so that when I turn it, there’s no gap on the front. On a child’s quilt I tend to machine bind front and back but I agree hand stitching is so relaxing.
Thank you for these videos! So helpful. I quilt all the time, but this is my first experience using men's dress shirts to make 3 memory quilts for the children of my friend and her husband (who have now both passed away). I sketched out 3 throw size quilt patterns. I cut the shirts up, added the P44F interfacing to stop the fraying, then cut out my squares/strips. The interfacing made the cutting more precise and sewing go so much easier, no stretching. And, not all shirts are created equal, so it was good on the thinner dress shirts, flimsy shirts and knit shirts to give them substance. But if you have plaid or striped shirts you need to pay attention to be sure your lines are straight when applying interfacing. I am also making some stuffed patchwork animals with all the leftover pieces for my friend's 6 grandkids.
Brenda, I'm so glad that the videos have been helpful for you! It sounds like you have a good method down...and I agree that the shirts are not created equally!! Some of the thin and/or flimsy ones really do need a little help being stabilized (heavy starch, light interfacing) to help them work well with other shirts or quilting cottons! Thank you for sharing! ❤️
ALRIGHT!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 Just start with the first step: get 1 dark shirt in a color you like, get 2 shirts that are a lighter version of the same color, and either a white shirt or some white yardage. Once you do that, you're already on your way! ❤️
@@caitlinmatthews1401 well I used shirts and fat quarters, so I can’t say, really. 🤷🏻♀️ If you get the pattern, it will give you the fabric requirements…if memory serves, she includes fat quarter amounts, so that will help you estimate. In my experience (and depending on your shirt size) the back will give at least one fat quarter, the two fronts are at least a fat quarter, and the 2 sleeves equal roughly a fat quarter. 👍🏻
Great video Cathy. The detailed tips on binding was very helpful and I will go back to this video several times when I get to that point. Thank you for your time and attention to details. 😁👍
Very good video Cathy...l struggle with thimbles and tend to forget l have it on ...lol Last quilt l made l was unable to hand sew the binding on the back due to arthritis flare up in my hand!! Ask me how upset l was! Oh well, will just have to adapt if the healing l prayed for doesn't happen.
Clearly I do the same! lol! I'm so disappointed for you that you didn't get to hand sew your last quilt binding.🙁👎🏻 But yes, it is part of what all quilters/makers/crafters DO...adapt to our limitations (internal AND external.) ❤️
Most of the time I make the backing larger. I folder over the front and iron. Then I fold that part in half under and then machine sew that. That’s how my great grandmother taught me. Sometimes I do it in the way you are showing but I never hand sew. I use clips. Pins are not allowed here. They have a way of sticking my family unexpectedly.
My sister (who has quilted a hot minute ago) learned the same way you have. It is a GREAT way to avoid waste and have that continuity on the front and back! 😍❤️ I'm here for it! I just haven't ever done it! 😂 And yes, pins DO tend to attack the family members and they don't appreciate it much. so...clips for me too! ❤️
@@TheCatBirdQuilts I have found over the years that a tiny stitch at the edge is needed to help hold it down. Then I go back and put vines and sometimes a few flowers in the middle. I have to say honestly that like the original commenter 75% I stitch in the ditch or just outside the ditch. I like nice clean lines. My go to in a hurry quilt is the disappearing nine patch. It has so many variations and almost all of them look clean and crisp with stitch next to the ditch.
Will share my quilt once done....this is my first short of a table runner I made a cou0le weeks back to get some confidence up. I found a Denim and Flowers shirt at a thrift store......ohhhhh.
Oh I would love that! 🥰 You'll have to send it to me on FB or IG. Photos don't come through here. 👎🏻 Also Denim and Flowers shirt...see?! Isn't it amazing?!❤️
Enjoyed this tutorial on binding so much. When you were doing the needle sewing by hand it just made me wonder if you ever do applique,? I have several great nieces and nephews. Boys are into baseball and younger girls are into Cinderella.. This would be my first time at applique and really need help if I get brave enough to try it.Again I enjoy your videos so much. Thank you from your neighbor from Ashville AL.
Well hey, neighbor! ❤️ I haven't ever done applique, and really have never thought I'd be into it, but didn't really consider how similar it might be to hand stitching binding.🤔 Now you have me going hmmmm! Maybe I'll try it before long! Thanks for your kind words!🥰
Nice easy explanation. I'm not patient enough to do the hand work. I do machine stitch in the ditch to complete it. Some say that means I'm not a real quilter ... just a crafter. Don't care really. No one I've made quilts for have complained. I like the corner tags and most often do that.
I’ve made quite a few quilts. I hand sew the binding like you do. I’ve considered machine binding, but I, too, enjoy the process. I am going to try not pressing it in half. It rarely ends up in the exact right place. Where did the editor get that thimble/what brand? Thanks for another great video.
I feel so lazy that I do not hand stitch the binding lol I just run it through the machine twice. I do enjoy hand sewing (English Paper piecing for instance) but not bindings. Then again, binding do not like me either, so fair is fair :) The video was so well explained as usual. Would it help to starch the binding? Make it a little stiffer? Or no?
I don’t think it’s lazy…just not how you want to spend your time! And that is OK! 😘 Thanks for the kind words. I do appreciate it so much! ❤️ I think I did actually starch my binding this time since it had so much stretch-maybe a little more next time so it will have even more stabilization! 👍🏻
Originally from Alabama, moved away and lived in several different states, then back again. Sometimes my accent is more pronounced...the more tired I am, the stronger it is! 😂
@@TheCatBirdQuilts Definitely a compliment! I have a sewing machine now, but for 20 years, I lived off the grid in a mud 'n straw house I built myself, and did all my sewing by hand--even two wedding outfits in satin I created for my daughters. I figured if historically most sewing was done without machines, I could do that too! I enjoyed it a lot. Machines can be faster, but they have their own set of skills and challenges. I like the amount of control I have with hand stitching.❤️
@@Siennaflower wow! What an interesting story (well, life, actually!) 😘 I sometimes think about how pioneer women made so many things by hand…it is a great reminder that our hands are our best tools! ❤️
Thank you for the detail. Although I am a beginner quilter, I have hand bound at least 20 (for my mother), I love it too. I have giant man fingers. The largest thimble I have found is a XL clover, it barely fits on my pinky, any suggestions as to where I can find a larger one other than Amazon? I currently use band aides. Did you single strand the hand binding? Is that Aurifil 50 weight?
Yes, Aurifil 50wt! And I did single strand on this quilt, but sometimes I do double strand. I don’t have any suggestions about where to find a larger thimble…but I’ll keep thinking about it!🤓
