Snoopy Quilt - Part 7 Binding The Easy Way

Princess Three is so excited about her quilt. She won't pack it. I am writing this at 6 a.m. and we are leaving in a few hours to drive two cars the long distance to her new University where she will be living for the next two years. 
 
I asked how she liked "looking" at her quilt today and she said, "I loved it." she is so funny because we are leaving not to far out and it still is where it was when I finished it. She won't pack it. I don't know if she thinks it will get wrinkled or something but I think it will be one of her favorite birthday presents EVER! 


I am sure she will stuff it in a bin or a garbage bag as we are packing the car but you can see how she is all smiles sitting on it. 

I put a picture of the boxers up because in the other posts, I forgot to tell you that you need to sew the fly down on them or your batting will show and you can't sew it down after unless you do it by hand or unpick the edging and / or quilting. 


I sewed it down towards the back but now wish I had sewn it down and the front edge as the lip gets caught on things. 

Also, I wanted to share how we put binding on the quilt. Basically, you buy a sheet bigger than the backing requires or use larger fabric pieces by about 2-4 inches all the way around. 

Cut the batting to the size of the quilt top. You can see in the pictures she has the batting under the top and it is a king batting. She then cut it to the quilt top size and then cut the king sheet to an even four inches larger than the quilt top all the way around. 

You then fold the raw edge to the edge of the quilt top. Then, fold the edge in again but this time go onto the quilt top. This gives you the finished look but makes it easier than if you used a binding that you have to catch sewing on both sides as sometimes one catches in the thread and the other doesn't and the stitching is further in on one side etc. 
 
Pin the edging with the pin facing the right direction to sew it so that the entire quilt isn't under the machine. The edge of the binding should only be under the machine and the rest of the quilt off to the left. Sometimes I don't pay attention and end up with pins in the wrong direction and that is time consuming to sew. 

I like using the back fabric for the binding as it brings the color of the back of the quilt to the front giving it some uniformity as well. 

If you use the same color of yarn or cotton thread to tie the quilt as the color of the backing, it will also bring a uniform look.
 
To tie the quilt, she chose yarn but you can use cotton crochet thread as well. 

Getting the needle with thread on it to come through all those layers can be tricky sometimes. 

You can run the needle across your scalp to get a bit of oil on it making it go smoother. But, Princess Three had a better idea. Use pliers. I thought it was a bit much but I did suggest that she get the new rubber gloves out from under the sink and cut off a piece to help us get a good grip on the needles to pull them through more easily. 
 
It worked and she used the rubber gloves and the pliers but I just use the rubber glove to grip the needle more easily.  

We tied it after the edge binding was pinned but not sewn. We would tie the quilt row by row and then roll towards the center and I was surprised at how long it took us to get it done. We watched three movies I think. 

Princess put in the last tie and every time I turned around, she was spread out on top of the quilt. 

I don't blame her as I did it a few times myself. It just looked so inviting and we are both so tired trying to get that project done and tonight we spent hours working on another project which she is excited about and I will share it with you after we move her in this weekend. 
We will miss you Princess Three. I know you will enjoy finishing up your degree and making new memories but always remember, I am PROUD of you! ;-)