Finishing a Quilt with Backwards Binding

The traditional way to finish a quilt uses bias binding sewn to the front, folded around to the back, and whipstitched by hand all around the back. This is a real pain in the rear for quilters like me who are used to doing everything on the machine. I don't hand sew unless my very life hangs in the balance.

But you can bind a quilt by machine if you flip things around and do it all backwards. This tutorial will show you how to use traditional bias binding and attach it to your quilt by machine. You need a quilt top, batting, backing, and bias binding for this tutorial.

Step 1: Make your sandwich

Layer your quilt together and baste. How you do this is up to you. There are eleventy billion ways to baste a quilt and I'm not about to tell you what way is better. It's really a matter of personal preference. I use basting spray because it's fast and easy and there is nothing to remove from the quilt when I'm done. I dig that. 

Comments

[Ninzerbean]

Thank you! I have a bunch of those fancy stitches on my machine and a quilt I can't get around to sewing on the binding because it came out so ugly, but I use it to keep warm - so now I am going to finish it.

[seamster]

Well done.  I believe this technique is approved by man-quilters everywhere... no sissy grandma hand-stitching allowed.

[ChrysN]

It looks nice with the decorative stitch!