Finishing the Quilt :: Tips and Resources
So you've made a quilt top. Now what?! Creating a quilt is more than sewing pieces of fabric together into a pretty design. The next steps are what take your work of art and create a functional piece of art that can be loved, cuddled up in and shared with others.
It can be intimidating to think about all the steps it takes to finish a quilt but this is where you can break it up into easy manageable actions that can be done over several days or weeks. In this blog post I will walk you through the basics on how to finish a quilt. I encourage you to read over these instructions and click through the YouTube search queries I've listed throughout if you are a visual learner. Some steps are best understood when you can see someone doing them (ie. binding!).
What I want to give you with these instructions are my tips, tricks and best practices. Learn from my mistakes so you don't have to! Ready to begin? Let's go!
***I am an amazon affiliate and have linked to amazon products or categories that you may find helpful in the quilt finishing process. I will receive a small commission if you buy those products from these links. Thank you!***
Step One :: Basting the Quilt
There are two ways I recommend to baste a quilt; spray basting and pin basting. Spray basting uses a commercially available aerosol can of glue to the hold quilt layers together. If you choose to spray baste make sure you have a large well ventilated area with flooring that can be cleaned afterward because of the over spray. You don’t want spray basting on your carpet!
Pin basting uses specially designed safety pins to secure the 3 layers of a quilt together before quilting. A traditional safety pin will work but a quilters safety pin has a bend in the pin to allow for easier closure. Your finger tips will thank you if you invest into a package of quilters safety pins.
The following directions are the same for spray and pin basting; the difference being you are spraying the layers as you go and for pin basting you pin layers together at the end of making your quilt sandwich.
Basting is used to secure the three layers (backing, batting and quilt top) of a quilt together or what quilters refer to as the quilt sandwich. The first layer of your sandwich is the quilt back and we prepare it in a way that is like stretching a canvas.
To start making your quilt sandwich lay the backing fabric right side touching the floor. Note that the quilt back will be 3”- 4” larger than your quilt top on all sides. Use painters or masking tape approximately 3” long to tape the quilt back to the floor in the following order: middle top, middle bottom, middle left, middle right, top right corner, bottom left corner, top left corner, bottom right corner. At each tape placement gently pull on the quilt back to ensure no puckering. See diagram below:
Once the back is taped onto the floor at all eight points you are ready to lay the quilt batting on top of the quilt back and smooth it out. If you are spray basting now is the time to spray the quilt back according to the directions on the spray basting can and then lay the batting on top and spray the batting. Please do not over spray your quilt back or batting. Too much spray baste will gum up the sewing machine needle and make quilting very difficult. In this case more glue is not better.
Next, take the quilt top and fold it in half right sides together. Place the fold of the quilt in the middle of the batting with the wrong side touching the batting. There will be 3”-4” of the batting/backing sticking out from all four sides of the quilt top. The backing and batting are larger than the quilt top. Unfold the quilt top onto the batting and smooth it down as you go.
If you are doing any marking for a quilting design now is the time to to that. Masking tape, herra marker or quilters chalk are all great marking choices.
If you are pin basting follow the directions for spray basting but you are not spraying in between the layers. The quilt sandwich will be laid out smooth and ready for pins.
If you are pin basting now is the time to pin baste all layers of the quilt sandwich together. Working in quadrants start in the middle of the quilt and pin towards the edges. You are now ready to machine quilt or hand quilt the quilt sandwich.
YouTube Search Queries:
Step Two :: Quilting the quilt
There are several ways to quilt the finished quilt sandwich together. Free motion quilting (FMQ), straight line quilting with a walking foot, hand stitched quilting and tying a quilt with heavy thread or yarn. You can also use a long-arm quilting machine by renting time on a machine locally or you can send a quilt top out to a professional to be finished by someone else.
Quilting a small crib sized quilt is straightforward enough but when you get into a throw sized or bed sized quilt a little extra planning is needed. I won't go into step by step instructions on how to quilt a quilt top here. I do want to give you my best tips and tricks for machine quilting (either free motion or straight line) to get you started and help with planning. The best teacher for this portion of finishing the quilt is experience, practice and patience (and a few YouTube searches)
My top tips for quilting that can help you finish like a pro:
- Plan out the quilting before you start. Make a sketch of the quilt top and doodle the quilting onto the sketch.
- Match the thread to the top of the quilt and if the backing fabric is different use a color thread to match the backing.
- A neutral off-white thread color is a great choice when in doubt. The off-white reflects back the color it is sewn onto.
- For vintage sheet quilts do not use a worn out or thread bare sheet. Always use top quality material.
- If you are starting out with free motion quilting use a simple pattern to start and then do more customized quilting once you get the hang of it.
- Use scraps of fabric and batting to make a test run of your quilting before starting on your finished quilt top. Work out any kinks in thread choice or sewing machine tension before you start work on your quilt top.
- Wind several bobbins at the beginning. Start with 3 wound bobbins will save your time between your stops and starts. Always use the same weight of thread top/bottom.
- Experiment with needle sizes. I found through trial and error my Husqvarna likes an 80/20 needle size for FMQ, I get fewer thread breaks.
- If you are free motion quilting start in the center of the quilt and work towards the right and down. This will allow the rest of the quilt to be supported on the table while you quilt.
- If you are straight line quilting start in the top middle. Roll the majority of the quilt that is not being quilted into the center and then place that rolled up tube over your shoulder to support the weight of the quilt. That way when you are quilting the extra weight of the quilt will not be pulling on your needle.
- Stand-up and stretch as needed. Quilting takes a toll on the body, but with regular short breaks to stretch your arm and back should be able to go longer and have less pain after your session.
Step Three :: Trim the Quilt & Bury Threads
With the quilting is done take the quilt and trim the excess backing and batting away from the quilt top. Use a long (24") quilting ruler and a rotary blade on your cutting mat placed on the floor. A large pair of scissors could also be used but the line will not be as clean and straight.
The other thing to do is bury and trim the loose threads left after quilting sections. Start by gather both top/bottom thread and trim them long and even at the ends. Then thread through the eye of a large needle. Next insert needle right next to the last stitch, insert and come up an inch or so away pulling all the way up on the needle and clipping the thread at the exit point. Repeat for all loose threads on the quilt top and quilt back.
YouTube Search Queries:
Step Four :: Binding the Quilt
Start by choosing a coordinating fabric for your binding. Stripes and polka dots are a classic choice. Another option is to use a light color binding for a dark quilt or vice versa to create a frame around the quilt. Either way make sure it adds to the quilt design or blends into the quilt.
The quilt pattern instructions will have a table at the beginning with fabric requirements including how much fabric for binding based on the quilt size you are making. A quick guide to binding length needed is measure the perimeter ((long side x 2) + (short side x 2)) and add 6-10 inches for corners and joining the ends. That will yield the number of inches the binding will be.
For example a baby sized quilt at 36" x 54" will be (36 x 2) + (54 x 2) = 180 + 10" = 190" binding. To calculate how much fabric that is divide 190" by 42" (Width of Fabric) = 4.5 lengths of fabric 42" long. Binding fabric stripes are usually 2.5" in width (see pattern for specifics but this is industry standard). In total you will cut 5 strips of fabric 2.5" wide.
Once strips are cut join the strips together at an angle to create a continuous length of binding. See diagram below (white is the right side of the fabric, gray is wrong side of fabric).
You will now have a continuous piece of binding ready to attach to the quilt.
YouTube Search Queries:
Step Five :: Attach Binding to Quilt
There are two popular ways to attach the binding to your quilt. The first is to sew the binding onto the front of the quilt with a sewing machine and then secure it to the back of the quilt by hand stitching. The second method to attaching the binding is to sew the binding onto the back of the quilt and then secure it to the front of the quilt using a sewing machine as well.
Either of these methods work well depending on your level of comfort. When I first learned to quilt I was more comfortable using the first method and sewing the binding onto the back of the quilt by hand. This method leaves a very nice clean finish on the front of the quilt but does take longer to hand stitch the back. The second method was intimidating to try because the machine stitches show up on the front of the quilt all the way around the binding. This second method can be a little trickier to accomplish and does take some practice to get good at. The advantage of this second method is that the binding is extra secure and it is very fast.
I am going to do my best to describe how to machine bind the quilt (the second method described above) using words. I encourage you to watch a few YouTube tutorials to familiarize yourself with either of the methods mentioned. Again seeing it done is always helpful.
YouTube Search Queries:
Machine quilting binding (explained in detail below)
Step Six :: Machine Bind the Quilt
Start by planing the quilt backing side facing up. Take the binding strip and place an end on top of the back in the middle of a longer side of the quilt matching cut edges of the trimmed quilt and the binding strip. The folded edge of the binding strip will be pointing to the middle of the quilt. Pin in place or use clover clips which are a great notion for this job. Pin or clip in place until you come to a corner; this is where you will create a special fold to go around the corners of the quilt. Lay the strip beyond the edge of the quilt, then fold the strip up at a 45 degree angle at the corner. Next fold the strip straight down creating a fold that follows the top of the quilt and the open edge of the binding is now matched up with the edge of the other side of the quilt corner. continue around the quilt until your ends meet back up and over lap.
Next, sew the binding onto the backside of the quilt starting approximately 10" from the end of the binding. Sew around the perimeter until you reach a corner. Stop and backstitch at the corner but do not sew through the special corner fold. Instead you will lift the needle and presser foot, move your quilt to the other side of the corner and then back stitch and continue sewing dow the next side of the quilt. Do this for all four corners. Stop sewing approximately 10" from where the ends of the binding meet up. Join the ends of the binding together after securing the binding down around the perimeter to ensure a snug fit.
Step Seven :: Joining the Ends of the Binding
Lay the ends of the binding over each other so that they overlap 2.5" (the width of the binding) and mark that spot on each of the binding ends. There will be overhang on each side that will get trimmed off later. Line the marked ends up with each other in the same way as when joining the binding strips together. Mark a diagonal line and sew the end strips together. Check to make sure this step was done correctly before trimming seam allowance then; press open, reposition binding and continue sewing the binding down onto the quilt. This step is the trickiest! I recommend watching a video before attempting. (see recommendations below)
YouTube Search Queries:
Step Eight :: Secure Binding onto Front of Quilt
With the binding sewn in place around the entire edge of the quilt back it is now time to secure the binding to the front. Start by turning the binding over onto the seam and ironing the binding flat. Then fold the binding onto the front, iron again and secure with binding clips or pins.
Note: if you are using pins place them in a way that the sharp side is not pointing at you when you sew. Place in a way that the pin head is facing you so that you are easily remove the pins as you sew the binding down.
Start sewing about 1/8" to the right of the edge of the folded binding edge. Begin with a backstitch and then continue to the corner, removing clips or pins as you go. Sew right up to the corner of the binding where the fold happens, backstitch and stop with the needle in the down position. Raise the presser food and pivot the quilt so that you are now sewing straight down the adjacent side, lower presser foot and continue. Alternatively you can backstitch at the corner, clip threads, and remove the quilt to rearrange it for the next side.
Continue around the perimeter of the quilt until you get back to the beginning; backstitch once more and you are done!
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