Judging quilts and bindings . . . .

In article ,
Patti wrote:

I don't suppose you would have time to give us a few pointers on how to
do a *good* binding, would you? I, for one, would be extremely
grateful. I think mine are all right, but since I've never managed to
extract any comments from judges, I really don't know.
.


Patti, I'm not Kathy, but I've been on the scribing committee several
times at our local show. The judges tend to favor bindings that are full
-- as opposed to the ones that don't have batting in them all the way to
the edge. In addition, if you do mitered corners, you should stitch the
miters down. Just a couple of pointers I've picked up.
--
Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas

http://home.earthlink.net/~s_foster

Hullo Kathy
I don't suppose you would have time to give us a few pointers on how to
do a *good* binding, would you? I, for one, would be extremely
grateful.

I would be happy to:

Choose a binding fabric that complements your quilt. It should look like it
belongs there, and was not an "afterthought."

Consider the proportion of your binding width. Most quilts look great with a
1/4 to 3/8" binding. Some look better with a wider or narrower one. And in
the case of miniatures, the binding should be scaled down to an appropriate
proportion. In any case, the binding width should be consistent, front and
back, with no puckering or rippling.

Make sure your batting fills the binding completely to the outer edge.
Bindings that are not filled with batting appear loose and flimsy.

Bindings on square or rectangular quilts should be 90 degrees at the corners.
Less than 90 degress, and your corners will "cup" or curl, more than 90
degrees, and they will be "dog-eared" or flaring outward.

However you cut your binding fabric (straight, cross or bias grain), there
should be no rippling, puckering or stretching in the finished binding. When
you piece together your binding strips, using a diagonal seam instead of a
straight seam will distibute the seam allowance in the strip so that the
finished binding will not appear bulky in the seamed areas

There are differences of opinion among judges as to sewing technique (hand vs.
machine). I am of the opinion that, it does not matter what technique is used
to apply the binding, as long as the finished product is neat, crisp and
professional. If you hand stitch, use a thread that matches your binding
fabric. Nothing looks worse than a dark binding blindstitched with white
thread. Keep your stitches firm invisible and close enough together to avoid
gaps.

If you machine stitch your binding, keep the thread color as unobtrusive as
possible, unless a contrasting color is an integral part of the design (I once
judged an art quilt that had variegated thread stippling all along the binding.
It was COOL!!) Your lines of stitching should be straight and even, with no
obvious starts or stops.

There is an ongoing "contoversy" regarding the mitered corners of bindings.
Many judges insist that the mitered corners should be sewn closed. I am of the
opinion that, if the corners lay flat, are perfectly mitered, and do not pucker
or gap out, I would not consider that a poor miter for judging purposes. On a
personal note, however, I sew all my miters closed because I like the way it
looks on my own quilts. Since so many judges feel strongly about this, I would
tell you all to take that few extra minutes to sew your miters closed.

I hope some of these tips will be useful to you all. If I think of any more,
I'll pass them along.

Kathy








"Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt....and dance
like no one's watching !"

Howdy!
Thank you!!!

Ragmop/Sandy
"Kathy Riley" wrote in message
...
Hullo Kathy
I don't suppose you would have time to give us a few pointers on how to
do a *good* binding, would you? I, for one, would be extremely
grateful.

I would be happy to:

Choose a binding fabric that complements your quilt. It should look like
it
belongs there, and was not an "afterthought."

Consider the proportion of your binding width. Most quilts look great
with a
1/4 to 3/8" binding. Some look better with a wider or narrower one. And
in
the case of miniatures, the binding should be scaled down to an
appropriate
proportion. In any case, the binding width should be consistent, front
and
back, with no puckering or rippling.

Make sure your batting fills the binding completely to the outer edge.
Bindings that are not filled with batting appear loose and flimsy.

Bindings on square or rectangular quilts should be 90 degrees at the
corners.
Less than 90 degress, and your corners will "cup" or curl, more than 90
degrees, and they will be "dog-eared" or flaring outward.

However you cut your binding fabric (straight, cross or bias grain), there
should be no rippling, puckering or stretching in the finished binding.
When
you piece together your binding strips, using a diagonal seam instead of a
straight seam will distibute the seam allowance in the strip so that the
finished binding will not appear bulky in the seamed areas

There are differences of opinion among judges as to sewing technique (hand
vs.
machine). I am of the opinion that, it does not matter what technique is
used
to apply the binding, as long as the finished product is neat, crisp and
professional. If you hand stitch, use a thread that matches your binding
fabric. Nothing looks worse than a dark binding blindstitched with white
thread. Keep your stitches firm invisible and close enough together to
avoid
gaps.

If you machine stitch your binding, keep the thread color as unobtrusive
as
possible, unless a contrasting color is an integral part of the design (I
once
judged an art quilt that had variegated thread stippling all along the
binding.
It was COOL!!) Your lines of stitching should be straight and even, with
no
obvious starts or stops.

There is an ongoing "contoversy" regarding the mitered corners of
bindings.
Many judges insist that the mitered corners should be sewn closed. I am
of the
opinion that, if the corners lay flat, are perfectly mitered, and do not
pucker
or gap out, I would not consider that a poor miter for judging purposes.
On a
personal note, however, I sew all my miters closed because I like the way
it
looks on my own quilts. Since so many judges feel strongly about this, I
would
tell you all to take that few extra minutes to sew your miters closed.

I hope some of these tips will be useful to you all. If I think of any
more,
I'll pass them along.

Kathy








"Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt....and
dance
like no one's watching !"

Thank you Kathy. Lovely to have the pro tips on binding. Just
yesterday I was wondering about you because you've been absent,
and ... ta da ... here you are! It often happens that way here in
RCTQ land! G

PAT in VA/USA

Boy, I know what you mean. At our fair it seems as though the quilt was
finished in a hurry to enter the fair.
i.e.. A nice top with a cheesy, ugly, cheap flannel backing in orange and
yellow that didn't even come close to complimenting the front. Or the
several perfectly nice tops that were birthed, no binding, and then they
didn't even take the time to press it down or top stitch it properly.
Seems a shame.

Vikki in WA State

Donna in Idaho wrote in message ...
I recently helped judge the needlework (including quilts) at our county
fair. My partner is the owner of one of our LQS's.

First off, I was very disappointed since I know that there are some
wonderful quilters in our area - not a one of them entered a quilt in the
fair. No, I didn't look at the names before they were judged, but I did
afterwards!!

The bindings on many of the quilts were absolutely terrible. Some of them
were unbelievably sloppy. I don't know whether people thought because this
was 'just' a small county fair, it didn't make any difference, or if they
really don't know how to bind a quilt. My partner kept saying over and
over
"they need to take my binding class."

The bindings were all sorts of widths (on the same quilt). Where the two
ends met was some of the sloppiest work you've ever seen. Some of them
were
machine stitched, not neatly on the very edge of the binding, but wandered
from the edge of the binding to the middle of the binding and back again!

One lady was trying to stretch her backing fabric further than it would
stretch. We had planned to give her a blue ribbon until we turned the
quilt
over. The front was pieced well & the quilting was good. However, she had
not cut the selvedge off the fabric she used for the backing which was an
extremely dark green. All the way down one edge of the back of the quilt,
running parallel with the binding was a white streak from the untrimmed
selvedge. If she would have pieced the backing, she would have gotten tha
t
blue ribbon!

Then there was the king sized crocheted bedspread - absolutely GORGEOUS!
Crocheted with the afghan stitch in ecru. Then the crocheter had used what
was probably a counted cross-stitch pattern & stitched an absolutely
beautiful huge picture in the center of the bedspread. Flowers were
stitched all the way across the bottom of the bedspread - probably two to
two and a half feet tall. A beautiful floral pattern was stitched on the
top for the pillow return. Needless to say this bedspread received Best of
Show in the needlework division! The kicker - a man made it. He also
entered another afghan that got a blue ribbon. I guess he has made a
bedspread for each of his grandkids. I cannot imagine how long it would
take to make one!

The moral to my story is - if you've made a really nice quilt - pieced
nicely and quilted nicely - don't ruin it with a sloppy binding! If you
don't know how to put a nice neat binding on, take a class or something!
--
Donna in Idaho!
Project Linus Boise/SW Idaho Coordinator
Website: http://donnakwilts.tripod.com/

The ultimate inspiration is the deadline!

Howdy!
I take a couple of stitches in that mitered corner because I
intend to wash the quilts, several times. I've seen the miters come
undone or get a little squashed after washing, but just a stitch or
two stops that nonsense. g
Do what works for you.
Ragmop/Sandy
"Patti" wrote in message
...
Hullo Kathy
Thank you very much indeed for this. I will print it out and keep it
for reference. I had heard about the sewing mitres down, but although I
have been quilting for ten years or so, I only heard it this year!! So,
I'm sure others reading this might not know. I used to think they
looked much neater unsewn. But, I suppose that's the point; you have to
make that bit look neat too.
I think it is so kind when professionals like yourself, and others on
the group, take the time to pass on their knowledge to those of us who
are always looking for ways to improve. For instance, although mine
usually are, I would never have thought it would be important to have
the binding the same width front and back.
Thanks again for this, Kathy. Definitely your good deed for the day!
.
In article , Kathy Riley
writes
Hullo Kathy
I don't suppose you would have time to give us a few pointers on how to
do a *good* binding, would you? I, for one, would be extremely
grateful.

I would be happy to:

Choose a binding fabric that complements your quilt. It should look like
it
belongs there, and was not an "afterthought."

*snipping some really good stuff, beg pardon*

"Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt....and
dance
like no one's watching !"

--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

Great tips, Kathy, but when you say ___"In any case, the binding width
should be consistent, front and back"__ are you saying that the front and
the back should be the same size as each other? Or that if the front is
1/4" it should be 1/4" consistently even if the back is 3/8" (consistently)?
I can get my front consistent and with the binding filled out to the edge,
but usually the back will be a slightly different width.

Dee in LeRoy, NY

"Kathy Riley" wrote in message
...
Hullo Kathy
I don't suppose you would have time to give us a few pointers on how to
do a *good* binding, would you? I, for one, would be extremely
grateful.

I would be happy to:

Choose a binding fabric that complements your quilt. It should look like
it
belongs there, and was not an "afterthought."

Consider the proportion of your binding width. Most quilts look great
with a
1/4 to 3/8" binding. Some look better with a wider or narrower one. And
in
the case of miniatures, the binding should be scaled down to an
appropriate
proportion. In any case, the binding width should be consistent, front
and
back, with no puckering or rippling.

Make sure your batting fills the binding completely to the outer edge.
Bindings that are not filled with batting appear loose and flimsy.

Bindings on square or rectangular quilts should be 90 degrees at the
corners.
Less than 90 degress, and your corners will "cup" or curl, more than 90
degrees, and they will be "dog-eared" or flaring outward.

However you cut your binding fabric (straight, cross or bias grain), there
should be no rippling, puckering or stretching in the finished binding.
When
you piece together your binding strips, using a diagonal seam instead of a
straight seam will distibute the seam allowance in the strip so that the
finished binding will not appear bulky in the seamed areas

There are differences of opinion among judges as to sewing technique (hand
vs.
machine). I am of the opinion that, it does not matter what technique is
used
to apply the binding, as long as the finished product is neat, crisp and
professional. If you hand stitch, use a thread that matches your binding
fabric. Nothing looks worse than a dark binding blindstitched with white
thread. Keep your stitches firm invisible and close enough together to
avoid
gaps.

If you machine stitch your binding, keep the thread color as unobtrusive
as
possible, unless a contrasting color is an integral part of the design (I
once
judged an art quilt that had variegated thread stippling all along the
binding.
It was COOL!!) Your lines of stitching should be straight and even, with
no
obvious starts or stops.

There is an ongoing "contoversy" regarding the mitered corners of
bindings.
Many judges insist that the mitered corners should be sewn closed. I am
of the
opinion that, if the corners lay flat, are perfectly mitered, and do not
pucker
or gap out, I would not consider that a poor miter for judging purposes.
On a
personal note, however, I sew all my miters closed because I like the way
it
looks on my own quilts. Since so many judges feel strongly about this, I
would
tell you all to take that few extra minutes to sew your miters closed.

I hope some of these tips will be useful to you all. If I think of any
more,
I'll pass them along.

Kathy








"Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt....and
dance
like no one's watching !"




-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

Great tips, Kathy, but when you say ___"In any case, the binding width
should be consistent, front and back"__ are you saying that the front and
the back should be the same size as each other? Or that if the front is
1/4" it should be 1/4" consistently even if the back is 3/8"

The width of the binding on the front should be consistent with the width of
the binding on the back. In other words, if the binding on the front measures
1/4" wide, the portion on the back should be close to that same width.

A difference of 1/8" as you describe would not be "glaring." But a 1/4"
binding on front, and 1" on back is a bit much. This usually happens when the
binding strip is cut too wide, applied to the front with a 1/4" seam allowance,
and all that extra width is folded over to the back.

I like to use a double fold French binding on my quilts. Decide how wide you
want your binding to be, and cut your strips 6 times that width. I "fudge" in
a teeny bit more to allow for the thickness of the quilt when I fold to the
back. So...for a 1/4" binding, I will cut the strip 1 1/2" inches wide (plus
maybe a 1/16 - 1/8" "fudge"). Fold this in half lengthwise, and press. Your
strip is now a little more than 3/4" wide. Sew to the quilt using a 1/4" seam
allowance. Fold the strip to the back, and you should have a nice 1/4" width
on the back as well.

Remember that, no matter how wide you want the binding, make sure there is
enough batting around the edges to fill the binding completely.

Hope this helps.

Kathy





"Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt....and dance
like no one's watching !"

Thank you again Kathy for this explanation and advice. I was
wondering about this issue. I'd just as soon do it right as not!
Also, thank you to Marcella for helpful contributions to this
too.

Now I have a question about facings. How are facings viewed in
competition? Of course it must be consistent with the style of
the quilt, but I wondered if a regular binding would count a bit
higher? TIA

PAT in VA/USA

Thanks, Kathy, that does help a lot.

Dee in LeRoy, NY

"Kathy Riley" wrote in message
...
Great tips, Kathy, but when you say ___"In any case, the binding width
should be consistent, front and back"__ are you saying that the front and
the back should be the same size as each other? Or that if the front is
1/4" it should be 1/4" consistently even if the back is 3/8"

The width of the binding on the front should be consistent with the width
of
the binding on the back. In other words, if the binding on the front
measures
1/4" wide, the portion on the back should be close to that same width.

A difference of 1/8" as you describe would not be "glaring." But a 1/4"
binding on front, and 1" on back is a bit much. This usually happens when
the
binding strip is cut too wide, applied to the front with a 1/4" seam
allowance,
and all that extra width is folded over to the back.

I like to use a double fold French binding on my quilts. Decide how wide
you
want your binding to be, and cut your strips 6 times that width. I
"fudge" in
a teeny bit more to allow for the thickness of the quilt when I fold to
the
back. So...for a 1/4" binding, I will cut the strip 1 1/2" inches wide
(plus
maybe a 1/16 - 1/8" "fudge"). Fold this in half lengthwise, and press.
Your
strip is now a little more than 3/4" wide. Sew to the quilt using a 1/4"
seam
allowance. Fold the strip to the back, and you should have a nice 1/4"
width
on the back as well.

Remember that, no matter how wide you want the binding, make sure there is
enough batting around the edges to fill the binding completely.

Hope this helps.

Kathy





"Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt....and
dance
like no one's watching !"




-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----