I finished a quilt this week! I can't show it to you, simply because it's going in our quilt show as a challenge quilt. BUT, I can show you the binding!
This little wall hanging is hand quilted with a crosshatch design. which you can see part of here in the photo. I love how it came out and I'll enjoy seeing it on the wall. I'm always hesitant to show my quilts because they aren't earth shatteringly new or different. However, my friends in the guild ask us all to enter to have variety for the show. More quilts equal more variety, and more people coming to look at the quilts! I always think about putting on a good show for our community, instead of trying to show off my own handiwork. Besides, it's so fun to see my guild's gorgeous work!
When we talk about quilt bindings, it's important to audition a few different pieces of fabric. I had narrowed down the color to aqua, based on the colors on the front of the quilt. However, I threw in the floral as a juxtaposition to other calmer binding choices when I was auditioning fabrics. I had a dot and a mostly solid aqua as well. The floral called to me, so I went with it, and I'm so glad I did!
I matched the thread choice almost exactly, so the stitches (to the right on the photo) don't show at all. I match my thread to the binding color, although some quilters do well to match the thread to the backing fabric colors. Based on my own blind stitch, the stitching used for binding, I find that my thread lays on the binding fabric. In the photo, you can barely see the aqua thread on the backing fabric.
My guild has a show in October, and the theme for the challenge is "doors". My goal as I get this little quilt hung on the wall is to make sure that when October arrives, it's still in show condition. I haven't decided where it will go on the wall, but there are several rooms it will match! I'll be adding a sleeve or some sort of way to hang it soon!
Philosophically, I love a good binding project. Many of my guild members love to volunteer to do bindings for the charity work we do, as well. I think the draw of doing a quilt binding is that it's the last step of a quilt. It represents a quilt finish, the last step in a long process of working on something big! It feels like the finishing touch! I also love that the last step of the quilt is usually done by hand. Handwork is almost meditative in nature, so working on this last step by hand has multiple benefits!
I hope you're having a good day, and that you're working to finish a project. I pray you have some quiet work to do and to enjoy!
Stacy
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