Friday, April 1, 2011

Applying binding while on the Longarm

I wanted to share how I apply binding to a quilt while still on the longarm.  This is a tutorial on how I do it.  There are other ways that I have tried,  but this works best for me.

...beware..lot's of pictures!

 
prepare binding...

 
cut on the diagonal

 
iron a quarter inch fold


 
press in half...this is the first part of the binding that will be applied to the quilt



 
after I am finished quilting the quilt I start on the bottom-right of the quilt when applying the binding...start stitching the binding down about 6 inches in from the start of the binding...hoping the quilt is square, I set the channel lock...that helps get a good acurate 1/4 inch. (Luann did very well with her borders and her quilt was completely square!)



 
start stitching..

 
..try best to stay 1/4 inch from edge..or edge of foot



 
when coming to the corner..stop a 1/4 from the corner



 
don't stop and cut thread...just take your channel lock off move foot down off quilt and to the side



 
re-position your binding



 
fold binding down and up just as you would if you were doing this on your sewing machine



 
...see



 
now move the foot back to the end 1/4 inch from the left side of the quilt and start stitching



 
I don't have channel lock up and down...practice and precision and it will be good enough



 
bottom done heading up left side...



 
keep repositioning the binding



 
now when you advance your quilt..(heading back to the top) leave the needle in and then advance...you should never have to stop and snip your thread...unless you make a boo... boo...



 
you also shouldn't need to support your sides with clamps..


 
now you've made it to the top left...same as the other corner

 
set your channel lock for across the top




 
left..top done heading down right side



 
a little something I do when sewing the binding on the left and right sides is I put pressure on the base plate with my hand...that gives me more control of the machine and helps me stay 1/4 inch to the edge of the quilt



 
now I've made it around the last corner and coming to the beginning of the binding



 
cut off about and inch past the beginning of the binding



 
now tuck that end right inside the beginning end



 
stitch across that tuck to the beginning stitches and wa..la.. done..it take me about 10 minutes for lap size



 
now...before I go to the sewing machine to stitch down the binding...I iron it first...



 
from top of quilt...iron it over



 
from back of quilt iron it over



 
I stitch in the ditch on the top and catch the back...since I have ironed it, I don't need to pin the binding...I usually catch the back of the binding with no problem...(on this quilt I didn't miss one time)



 
this is a picture of the back of the binding



 
this is the picture of the front...you can see the stitches in the ditch a bit...but not bad



wow...that was alot of pictures...hopefully that made sense!  I do bindings for customers quite often and this is how I do it!  

 I do want to give credit to Sharon and Pam..these idea's are not all mine..Thanks ladies!
 
Thanks Luann for letting me use your quilt as an example!





8 comments:

  1. Wow, thanks for the tutorial....not sure if I'm brave enough to try that.

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  2. Thank you for the step-by-step directions. Very informative!

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  3. I googled "putting binding on a quilt on the long arm" and came up with your blog! Great tutorial! Now I am ready to try it on my Gammill Optimum.

    I also LOVE the feather pattern that you quilted on the quilt. Is it freehand? Do you have any tips for that? Did you sew a spine first? I would love any hints you may have.

    Donna in Happy Valley, OR

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  4. This makes so much sense! Thanks for sharing. I'll be giving this a try.

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  5. i have always wondered how this was done on the long arm. I am going to have to try it myself. Thank you so much for posting, very great information and you make it easy to understand.

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  6. Awesome! Thank you sew much for sharing!

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  7. These instructions are far and away the best I have found on this subject. thank you.

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  8. Best instructions on how to sew binding using longarm. Went right to longram and followed your instructions-no problem.. I think this is much easier than the old way! Thanks, Sandra

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