Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching where we celebrate the art of creating things with our hands, where we connect to our ancestors by using time-honoured techniques to make things we could easily buy for a fraction of the cost, and where we recognize the value we add to our lives by engaging in this restorative practice. 
This week I finished the machine quilting of my Scrap Vortex quilt, and today I am hand stitching the binding. Isn't that a great piece of leaf fabric in the quilt backing?!?How long do you think it will take me to stitch the 272" of binding?
Is it possible to do this much binding in one day? I could've easily finished it by machine, but I really enjoy hand stitching a binding and didn't want to miss out on one of my favourite parts of quiltmaking, just to meet my artificial goal of finishing this quilt in April. I stitched around one corner yesterday and have everything ready for today, including some arthritis cream for when my hands start to ache. Check back later tonight to see how I made out. If I finish, I will post a photo. If I don't finish, well... let's just be positive and hopeful!What are you hand stitching today? Link up to your blog post below and tell us all about your project...
An InLinkz Link-up
23 comments:
Hand stitching the binding is my favourite bit! I just finished the binding of my daughters quilt yesterday, I just need to wash it :)
Excellent choice for your Slow Sunday stotching.
I just love hand stitching the binding of a quilt! Great backing fabric...I can't wait to see the finished quilt. I just started another flannel vortex quilt...you can see what I have done so far on my blog.
I can't wait to see how long it takes you to stitch the binding. I've been working on a wall hanging quilt during planning periods at school. I've worked on it all week. I know I have over five hours in it. (It's less than 36" square!) I'm working on it... But still enjoying the process... Happy stitching.
Hand stitching the binding is possible to do in one day. But it's hard for your hands, and I recommend using more days. Good luck.
Enjoy your stitching and stop when your hands tell you to! :)
It makes me happy to know you are slow stitching your binding..
I think my machine piecing will be put aside for part of the day and I will work on an applique project -
I love hand-stitching a binding. Despite your April finish goal, who but you will care if you finish today or tomorrow. By the way, that leaf backing fabric is very pretty.
I enjoy the binding... that said I usually do it in bits and pieces until I am done in a couple days or more at times... I did do the binding on a large queen in just 1 1/2 days but I was anxious to sleep under it! lol
Hope you don't need much of that cream.. thanks for offering the linky on Sundays too... I love how you quilted this one.. I have been waiting for a quilt that would be scrappy enough to lend to being spiral quilted by machine and it hasn't happened for me yet though... I don't machine quilt too many though... lol! I did see a vid on Youtube by Leah Day...she had some good tips for getting started in the center! Have fun binding :) Kathi
Binding a quilt is not my favorite part of quilt making, actually more like my least favorite - but since I enjoy all the others so much, to be the least is really not bad. I hand stitch mine, too. I hope you don't need the cream, but if you do, then its a blessing to have it. Good luck - and don't stress the deadline - keep it relaxing and enjoyable.
I'm not terribly fond of binding....just takes time away from my applique! I like to keep at it til it's done....maybe two sides in an evening and the other two the next morning.
You can do it TODAY! Go, go, go! See Kathy sew! (And I, too, hope you don't need Ben's help.)
I always love seeing what other quilters are doing. Thanks so much for this weekly party and slow-stitching round-up!
I love the final step of hand binding a quilt! After the picking the colors and pattern its my favorite part!!! If only I could get someone else to do all the between stuff!!! My mother had a custom drapery shop and I learned how to hem by hand doing widths and width of 60 inch fabric by hand. Sitting with an audio book makes going is lovely except in July and August
Don't mind doing the hand binding it would take me several hours to do that much but have done an even bigger one in a day so you can do it.
Even if you finish it tomorrow, you will have done over 99 percent of it by the end of April. That should count.
I'd say you had pretty much hit your April target. Well done!
Two days...no problem you should get it done.Love that in your pile of tools, you have aching cream!!! You can't possibly need that, you're still a young pup!
Whoohooo, you go, girl!! I love hand stitching the binding. It's my favorite part of the quilt. I don't know if it's the hand work or the fact that I'm that much closer to a finished quilt, though!! :)
My money's on you for getting all of that binding on by end of day today. You go girl!
Hope you made lots of progress with the binding. It always takes longer than I think it will to attach a binding by hand, but it's so nice to just sit and stitch, I'm not sure I'll ever learn to do one by machine.
I always enjoy hand stitching the binding on quilts but it does take time. I have once attached the binding by machine when I was really pushed for time but I didn't enjoy the process at all.
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