Want the fast, easy way to finish a quilt? Have binding ready to go!

Who has a working stash of fabric? 

I thought so! Most of us love being able to pull out inspiring fabrics to add to our projects at a moment’s notice.

Who has a stash of pre-made binding to help quickly finish those projects?

I’m guessing fewer of you answered yes, but I’m a big advocate of having binding on hand and ready to go for projects. This is particularly true if, like me, you have favorite go-to bindings that you use time and again to finish off projects or if you like creating scrappy project bindings.

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What types of binding do you use the most?

I use bias binding for virtually all of my projects. I love how it hugs the edges of the quilt, and the slight stretch means it’s easy to get it to behave how I want it to.

Stripes

Striped fabrics look particularly dynamic when cut on the bias since the lines typically run diagonally around the edge of the quilt.

Bonus Idea: If you find a fabric printed with a diagonal stripe, create bias binding with the stripe, creating perpendicular lines. Then, finish a quilt with curved edges with this binding to blow the minds of your quilting friends!

Solids or Almost Solids

I go through times when I use a large amount of solid black bias binding, so I try always to keep that in my stock so it is available to use without having to construct a new piece each time.

Other colors of solids (or almost solids) are also helpful to have available. Whenever I make binding, I make a bit extra. These extra bits- a couple of yards here, a few feet there- are perfect for creating a scrappy binding with relative ease. Most of the time, by the end of the project, the last thing I want to do is search through dozens of fabrics to find and cut strips of fabric to create a scrappy style binding.

How much binding do you make?

How much you make depends on how useful you think it will be for your style. Do you see this pink and red striped binding? I have used this binding on more projects than I can remember, making it several times. When I reencountered this fabric, I bought two yards and turned it into bias binding. I don’t want to think about what to do when I run out!

Bias binding is particularly easy to make using a square piece of fabric, so when I’m buying fabric for my binding stash, I have found that 1-1/4 yards is the perfect amount!

I’m doing a tutorial on continuous binding soon, so make sure to sign up for the newsletter at the end of this post so you won’t miss it!

Storing Pre-Made Binding

Over the years, I have wound pre-made bindings around almost any cardboard, foam core, or empty trim bolt I could find. Sometimes, I would use an infrequently used ruler- until I needed the ruler and slid the binding off into a bag. That process landed me in the situation you see below: a bin filled with bindings that I have to empty each time I want to see the binding options I have available.

When Missouri Star Quilt Company asked me if there were any organizational projects I wanted to take on this month, the organization of binding was on my list (along with so much more!) They make small acrylic fabric bolts that are perfectly sized for a small amount of fabric or, in my opinion, even more perfect for binding storage!

All it took was an hour in front of the television, and I organized all my binding. If you, like me, use primarily bias binding, make sure you wrap carefully and don’t pull on the strips as you wrap. You don’t want to stretch or distort the binding you have worked so hard to create.

I am overjoyed to get my binding stash up on a shelf where I can easily see what I have!

Are you ready to organize your sewing space?

If you want to pick up some acrylic bolts of your own or almost anything else from Missouri Star Quilt Company, they give you 15% off your order when you click the link below!

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