My Favorite Quilt Binding Tutorials and Tips

I find that binding a quilt gives me a great deal of joy. The feeling of actually finishing a project to completion is almost indescribable. Last week I bound three quilts. Two for a client, and one of my own, Yay! 

When I first learned to quilt, my mom would have me fold the backing fabric over and hand stitch it down. While I love the simplicity and economy of that method, I much prefer attaching my own binding now. 

There are loads of great tutorials out there for quilt binding! I most recently discovered glue baste binding and it is now my go to method. While I really enjoy how relaxing hand binding can be, I rarely have the hours it requires to finish a quilt by that method these days. I have switched to machine binding with glue basting! 

Below are some great binding tutorials, covering several methods. These are the ones I have loved and tried, and even one I want to try next!

• Jay Bird Quilts: Perfect Binding Tutorial (I love her explanation of how to join the ends continuously.)
• SwimBikeQuilt: She has a method for corners I haven't tried. She also sews her binding to the BACK side, which I now want to try.
• Trends and Traditions: Awesome tips for hand binding! This will save you tons of time! 
• Craftsy: Glue baste binding. They use bias tape in the tutorial, but you can easily apply the glue method to traditional binding.
• My Sweet Prarie: If you have a hard time with corners, try her stitch off method. 

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My username is @mollylovelythreads.

Customer Quilts October 2014

October is always a fabulous month for quilting! This year was no exception! 

 My mom made this fantastic baby quilt! The pattern is Fit to be Tied by Karie Patch Designs. My mom did a great job pulling fabrics from different lines for this quilt. I really love the colors. If you are local, there are patterns available at Gracie Lou's.

 You may have seen this soccer quilt on Instagram. I fell completely in love with it! The fabrics Jennylynn chose to go with her daughter's school colors are perfect. And those soccer balls....she made those using her commercial embroidery machine and they are SOFT! I need to have her make me up some labels, and I am still planning and plotting a quilt with those soccer balls! You can contact Jennylynn at Crazy 4 Embroidery
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 I have never met a person who does not like the Swoon quilt. And for that matter, I have never met a Swoon quilt that I didn't like. This Christmas version by Karly is no exception. She didn't want it quilted too much, so I went with a snowflake design in the center star. It turned out better than I imagined!

You know what is super cool? When I get new customers from other states, who dare send me their projects. I loved quilting these quilts for Adrienne's twin daughters. The Heather Ross prints are unique and fun. They kept me entertained.

And who doesn't love a sprial fill design? It always turns out great and adds fun movement and texture to quilts. I kept the block quilting in order to not detract from the cute fabrics. 

Carolyn mentioned that this quilt belonged to her grandmother. What a privilege it was for me to quilt it for her. A true scrappy quilt!

I have quilted a few of these Touchdown quilts, and overtime I do I have to explain to my boys why they can't keep it. Then they take a closer look and realize that is isn't their favorite team anyway. This quilt is definitely on my bucket list to make. 

I love, love, love all of Kristin's Cute Quilt Patterns. It is such an honor to quilt for her.  I was lucky to quilt for her book. Cute Quilts for Kids, and continue to by lucky enough to quilt new things for her frequently. This pattern is Flutterby Butterfly and you can buy it from her shop!

I knew I wanted to mix straight and curved lines on this nine patch quilt. It turned out just how I imagined. The colors are great too, don't you think?

This Halloween quilt for Barb has it's own post. You can read more and see more here.

The fabrics, the trees, the birds, the textures are all awesome in this quilt.

As I was quilting this Christmas quilt I realized what a great tree skirt it would make! Love those snowmen and christmas trees!

Simple designs are always fun to quilt. I have a hard time narrowing down my quilting options. This one turned out great! 

This chevron quilt is going to need it's own post! It was Heidi's granddaughter's first quilt. She did an amazing job selecting fabrics in yellow, gray and turquoise. 

Halloween Quilt: Saturday Sampler: Machine Quilting

 I just quilted this amazing Halloween sampler quilt for Barb. I always feel super lucky to get to quilt something in season! I thought I would put a few more views of this quilt here on the blog so you can see how I quilted each area. Make sure you scroll to the bottom so you can see the spiderwebs in the border!

Daysail Quilts for Cotton Way: Quilt Market 2014

Quilt Market has begun and the social media buzz is strong! I always feel at least a tinge of jealousy when I am not there to enjoy it.  As I have watched other quilters post things they have done for market this year I feel admiration for them! I love watching others succeed.

Then I remembered, I have stuff at Quilt Market too! Yay! I was over the moon when I received an email from Bonnie of Cotton Way last summer asking me to  quilt a couple of her Daysail Quilts! I was able to quilt her Smooth Sailing quilt and her Surfs Up quilt. While I was first a little star struck, working with Bonnie was easy and fun. She was as kind and easy to talk to as all of my clients are. 

Thanks again Bonnie!

Scroll away friends, and enjoy the photos posted below!

Flutterby Butterfly Quilt

I just finished this adorable quilt for Kristin and she already has a pattern available and better yet she is giving one away on her Facebook page!

The dimensional butterfly is what makes this quilt unique! It also screams Cute Quilt Patterns!

Kristin often requests flowers quilted on her quilts, so I was sure to add one in the alternate block!

This photo gives you a great view of those fluttery butterfly wings!

I may have mentioned before, but Kristin has a fun book out! I was able to do the quilting for her, which was super exciting for me!

Flutterby Butterfly by Cute Quilt Patterns

Lucky Ducks

If you follow me on Instagram (@mollylovelythreads) then you have seen a close up of this cute Lucky Ducks quilt before! The good news is, now the pattern is available at Cute Quilt Patterns! There are also kits available and if you act fast you can receive 25% off with the code LUCKYDUCKS. 

I love quilting for Kristin! Her quilts are unique in that they have 3-dimensional accents. She also has a book Cute Quilts for Kids with more adorable quilts to make for the cute kiddos in your life. I was the lucky duck that got to do the quilting for the quilts in the book, so check it out!