quilting – cakecardcloth

Recently I’ve seen a number of quilts on social media with a fluffy edging rather than the traditional fabric binding. All my previous quilts have a hand sewn traditional fabric binding but it does take me so long to finish them. This fluffy edging looked like it would be a quicker finish so I was keen to give it a try.

The fluffy edging is made using Chenille-It Blooming Bias tape. Chenille-It Blooming Bias tape comes in two widths – 3/8 inch and 5/8 inch. For quilt edging I would definitely recommend using the 5/8 inch wide tape.

The tape is very easy to use. Sharon Holland Designs has an excellent video tutorial that provides detailed instructions on how to apply the tape as a binding to a quilt. You can find it under the tutorials tab on her website.

In summary, these are the steps you need to follow to apply the tape:

overlock or use a zig zag stitch to secure the outer edges of your quilt
cut four lengths of tape about 1 inch longer than one side of the quilt
sew two lengths on that side to the back of the quilt
then sew two lengths to the same side on the front of the quilt
repeat steps 2 and 3 for each of the other sides
start by applying tape to the shorter sides and then the longer sides
if your quilt is square then do opposite sides and then the other opposite sides
trim the beginning and end of your tape so that they are level with the other sides

Below is a photo of how my quilt looked after applying the tape to all four sides. I think we can agree that it looked pretty uninspiring at this stage.

Chenille-It Blooming Bias tape as a quilt edging before washing — Chenille-It Blooming Bias tape sewn as a quilt edging before washing

Thankfully that is not the end of the process as the magic happens after washing. The quilt needs to be washed in order to fluff up the tape.

Initially I washed my quilt on a short cold wash but found there were sections of the tape that hadn’t fully fluffed up. So, I popped it back in the washing machine with an old towel and on a longer cold wash. The agitation of the towel was just what was needed to fully fluff the tape.

Chenille-It Blooming Bias as a quilt edging after washing

The photo above shows the quilt with the fully fluffed up tape. For anyone curious I used the natural colour tape which I think tones well with the fabrics used. The tape has fluffed up beautifully and gives a lovely, informal finish to the quilt.

Would I use this method again? Yes, yes, I would. It is much quicker than hand sewing a fabric binding and probably takes the same amount of time as machine binding a quilt. I was unable to source the wider tape in the UK so ordered it directly from Chenille-It. The company was very prompt in shipping my order and they had a full range of the tape colours available for me to choose from. The postage costs for international shipping do make it a much more expensive option for me so I’ll only be using the tape on special quilts. If you could purchase the tape in your own country then it would probably be comparable in price to the usual fabric binding.

I hope this tutorial has inspired you to try using Chenille-It Blooming Bias tape on a quilt.

Please let me know if you do as I would love it see it.

Like what you see? Remember you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more of my lovely makes.

Last week I made a flying visit to Cumbria to see the New Quilting exhibition at the Rheged Gallery.

New Quilting exhibition – Rheged Gallery, Penrith, Cumbria

Over 70 quilts are on display and 30 quilters have contributed quilts for the exhibition. There is so much to see – traditional designs, modern quilts, detailed hand quilting, elaborate machine quilting, 3D works, quilts that look like maps, ones that look like travel posters, free cut quilts, improvised piecing and appliqué. There are even some quilts from the early 1900s on display.

New Quilting exhibition – Rheged Gallery, Penrith, Cumbria

One of my quilts features in the exhibition and here it is on display, yay!

A Life in Film quilt – Rheged Gallery – New Quilting exhibition

And here is a closer look at the quilt, titled “A Life in Film”, that I made for my nephew. It features Polaroid blocks that highlight aspects of his life – growing up on a farm, his love of basketball, a special trip to the zoo, his love of chocolate cake, to name but a few. I know he’ll love snuggling under it when reading or watching TV.

A Life in Film quilt – Rheged Gallery – New Quilting exhibition

But enough about my quilt. Here are some of my highlights and favourite quilts from the exhibition.

Cologne Cathedral quilt by Greta Fitchett – Rheged Gallery – New Quilting exhibition

I loved this quilt of Cologne Cathedral by Greta Fitchett which represents a scene reflected in other buildings. Those lines between the blocks are really skinny and must have been so difficult to get straight. It reminds me of photographs made from contact sheets.

Coming into Land quilt by Alicia Merrett – Rheged Gallery – New Quilting exhibition

This was another of my favourites, by Alicia Merrett, showing a pilot’s view of a country landscape at night, with an air strip on the right hand side. The quilting really helps to accentuate the contours of the landscape and I love the bright colours of the houses shining in the dark.

Sweet City quilt by Marita Lappalainen – Rheged Gallery – New Quilting exhibition

This quilt by Marita Lappalainen made me smile. Recycled fabrics and crochet pot holders feature in this work of an imagined city. She said that she wanted to make something “fairy tale like, childish and fanciful”. I’d say she has nailed it.

Detail of Bitter Pills quilt by Sara Impey – Rheged Gallery – New Quilting exhibition

This quilt, Bitter Pills, by Sara Impey was especially thought-provoking. It is a whole cloth quilt featuring free-motion embroidery. The juxtaposition of the bright colours of the capsules against the “bitter pills facing society” serves to heighten the power of this work.

Detail of Log Cabin quilt made in 1900 – Rheged Gallery – New Quilting exhibition

This shows the detail from one of the quilts, made in 1900, that is on display. The quilt is quite large – certainly large enough for a double bed – and must have taken hours to hand sew all those tiny seams.

Detail of Blue Cabin quilt by Joy Salvage – Rheged Gallery – New Quilting exhibition

A modern day version of a log cabin quilt was also on display. This one is by Joy Salvage, a young quilter in her mid 20s, and features log cabin blocks where each of the logs are only 1/4 inch wide!

Detail of After Boro quilt by Janice Gunner – Rheged Gallery – New Quilting exhibition

I’m a great fan of scrappy quilts and I loved this one by Janice Gunner. The colours she has chosen and the lovely hand quilting have transformed old fabrics (often rags) into something beautiful.

I could go on and on about the quilts but really, the best thing is for you to see them for yourself. The exhibition runs until 23 April and is well worth a visit.

Like what you see? Remember you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more of my lovely makes.

cakecardcloth

Tag: quilting

Using Chenille-It tape as a quilt binding

New Quilting exhibition, Rheged Gallery – a picture post