Hand Blanket-Stitched Binding

If you've been around A Quilter's Table for very long at all, you probably know I'm often playing around with quilt bindings - scrappy, matched, angled, and striped - I've done them all. So in general, binding treatments catch my eye. As Emma/joworimakes's did on Instagram a couple of weeks ago.

We chatted about her hand blanket-stitched binding, and in the end, I thought you might like to see and hear about it too. So here, in Emma's words . . .

This is a very easy and fun binding finishing technique that I came up with when wanting a little something extra on the front of a mini quilt. It is nothing new – I have seen machined blanket stitch binding tutorials online, but I am a big fan of hand stitched pieces and thought the blanket stitch finish by hand would just add that something special that I wanted. It is great for adding extra interest on mini quilts, and so far that is all I have used it on – I don’t have the patience for hand binding on large quilts! If you are confident in your hand stitching however, there is no reason why you shouldn’t use it on larger quilts.  I have finished a few mini quilts using this technique now, with plans for many more - I think it makes for a charming finish!

To complete your binding using blanket stitch, simply sew by machine on the back of the quilt using your favourite technique, turn over to the front and secure (I love clover wonder clips for this step!) and use your blanket stitch to sew the binding down as if you are doing hand applique. My favourite blanket stitch tutorial is one from Adrianne at “On the Windy Side” which you can find here: http://www.onthewindyside.co.nz/2013/11/how-to-do-hand-blanket-stitched-applique.html

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or just to show off your work if you use this binding finish! You can find me on IG with the handle “joworimakes” or on flickr as “jowori”. Enjoy!

***ETA: Emma uses 2 strands of DMC floss or Aurifil 12wt thread for her hand-stitched binding.***

(mini is made from a slightly upscaled block from the Thimbleblossoms pattern “Salt Water”)

Isn't Emma's technique fun? If you've done any hand-finishing of binding on the front of a quilt, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks for sharing, Emma!