Finally, this is the last in the series on the T-Shirt Tutorial. To see parts 1-6, here are the links:
Making a T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial, Part 1
Making a T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial, Part 2
Making a T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial, Part 3
Making a T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial, Part 4
Making a T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial, Part 5
Making a T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial, Part 6
When you get your quilt back from the quilter (or when you finish quilting it if you are doing the quilting yourself), trim all the back and batting to the same size as the front of the quilt:
Next, you are going to measure the quilt. When I sent this quilt top to the quilter, it measured 96″ X 96″. The process of quilting draws the fabric layers up a bit, and makes the piece smaller. So, to determine how much binding I need, I will have to measure the quilt again.
The finished piece now measures 93.5″ X 95.5″, so I will need 378″ of binding strips. (93.5 +93.5 +95.5+95.5) I always add at least 10″ to account for seams and turning the corners. The next thing I did was cut strips 2.5″ X width of fabric until I had enough to make a strip 388″ long.
Stitch these strips together end to end to make one long continuous length of binding.
Press under one half inch along the entire length of the binding strip.
Pin the binding strip to the front of the quilt, right sides together. Start pinning in the middle of any edge.
At the corners, make miters by pinning the binding at an angle along both sides of the corner.
When you get to the meet point of the binding, pin the edges together. Using a pen or marker, mark the edge where the ends meet on both sides:
Pull the ends of the binding away from the quilt, and pen together. Stitch the ends together on the marked line.
Stitch on marked line:
Trim seam to one fourth inch:
Continue to pin binding in place in quilt:
Stitch binding to quilt using a one half inch seam:
When you get to the corners, stitch to within one half inch of the edge. Stop, remove the fabric from the machine. Turn the corner, place the fabric back in the machine, begin stitching one half inch from the edge:
After you have stitched all the way around, remove all the pins, and turn the binding to the back of the quilt.
Pin in place again:
Thread a needle with matching thread, hand stitch the binding to the back of the quilt using small stitches.
To make the mitered corners, fold the corner flat:
Turn the first edge over at an angle and pin in place:
Fold the second side over and pin in place:
Continue to hand stitch the binding in place all the way around the quilt.
Now, I have to say here, that this makes making mitered corners look like a piece of cake. I have a hard time making mitered corners, and not all of them look this good. If anyone reading this has an easier way to make these mitered corners, please tell me.
Now that the binding is done, the quilt is finished. You may want to add a label, telling who made the quilt, and when. I put a label on this one. I’ll post pics of the finised quilt tomorrow.
