Economic Bindings

As part of my community outreach I have been working with 2 local churches who make quilts for word relief agencies. You've probably heard stories of hundreds of quilts being sent to hurricane-ravaged areas in the U.S., tsunami victims and other people in need. Most people involved with world relief agencies including Lutheran World Services and Mennonite Central Committee join together to use "leftover" or ugly duckling fabrics and turned them into beautiful quilts with what seems to be a magical pace.

I visit and work with two such groups on a monthly basis. One of the tricks of the trade is to not waste extra fabric to make fancy bindings, mitred corners, or complex designs. Today I'll cover how you bind a quilt by simply rolling over the backing fabric to the front. The concept is simple: keep your backing fabric a minimum of two inches wider than the top, all the way around the circumference. Roll over or fold-under the raw edge and sew down this clean edge to the top of the quilt. The problem usually comes when how to treat the corners. Here are two options:

1. The Kingo Lutheran square corner:

This allows you to fold a corner and end with a squared-off 90 degree intersection without having to trim away extra fabric. When sewing on the machine to finish, you can then simply trace a square in each corner or finish however else you like. Remember, when tacking down the border, it is often helpful to do a zigzag on your machine to help compensate in case your quilt is not perfectly square. Here are the pictured steps. If you'd like to see these ladies in action, they meet Tuesday afternoons from 1-ish to 4-ish every week.

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2. The Fox Point Luthern faux mitred corner:

This technique appears to be a traditional mitred corner and you may trim off extra fabric or leave it be depending on your personal preference. The steps are a little more complicated, but the principle starts the same, so here we go:

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If you want to help out this group and have a little less time on your hands during the day, they meet once a month for an all-day quilt-in, the 3rd Tuesday of every month.



If you have a group that is interested in starting to make quilts for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) or another world relief organization or local nonprofit and would like me to come give a start-up demonstration in tips and techniques in obtaining fabric, good design, and easy-to-learn techniques, I am more than willing to join you. Just contact me for an appointment. If you have finished quilts that you would like distributed locally or internationally, they can also be brought to the store for delivery to MCC. You can also donate your ugly duckling fabric to be made into quilts at the shop.