Sunday, July 1, 2012

Keeping it Together

I never know whether to pity or to congratulate a man on coming to his senses.
William Makepeace Thackeray 

I learned a number of years ago that the best thing to do when a quilt top is completed it to put the binding material with it.  If I have the fabric for the backing it goes with it too.  The time and frustration this has saved me is great!  I have in the past few years been trying to match up backings with completed tops.  Recently I have added another time saving step.  I always have a top measured during construction - usually to do the borders, or I have the  pattern in front of me and it has finished size measurements.  Now I add a note to the top that includes the size.  The backing fabric usually isn't cut to size and seamed until I'm ready to load it on the longarm (in case I change my mind on the selection) and the batting also needs to be cut.  Having all these things done ahead saves more time.  Here's how I store it all:

Hang it all together with the size info

If the binding is cut I put it in a bag, cut a slit in the bag and hang it on neck of the hanger, strips are prone to sliding off the hanger.  The backing fabric and top are on the hanger.  If doing this you need to use the heavy weight hangers especially for large quilts.  Light weight hangers bend or break.  This is the top only as I haven't pick out the backing yet but the size is right where I can see it.  If using a straight pin to attach the paper to the quilt weave the point under the paper so it will not snag what it is hanging next to or your finger. Make sure your pin is rust proof or check them occasionally for rusting.  A safety pin would work well since they are mostly nickel.

How do you keep your tops and binding together?

I linking to Let's Get Acquainted! Monday at plumandjune.blogspot.com

2 comments:

  1. What a nice system, very thoroughly explained! I love the tip about making a note of the size of the quilt. I use a tower of plastic drawers... with each drawer dedicated to a project. I can pull out the drawers as needed. Saw your post on Plum and June:).

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  2. Great idea. I too get frustrated looking for matching fabrics to bind with or looking through my stash, "I'm sure I have that fabric in here" thanks for the idea.
    Barb@Witsend

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