A SQUEAKY FINISH

The "Colour Block" quilt needed a 3/4" binding to match the sashing between the blocks and around the edge as a first border.  I usually cut my binding at 2 1/2", so I cut this at 3 1/4".  Imagine my surprise when I realized it wasn't wide enough, by quite a bit.  I put the 3 1/4" binding aside and cut a new one at 4 1/4".  That worked.  But it left a whole, "fat" binding to use on something else.

This weekend I used that binding to finish the "Boxy Stars" quilt.  The colour was a good match, and I didn't mind having a slightly wider binding to give that quilt a good "edge." But as I went along I saw that it would be a close thing whether or not the binding was long enough.  It was a big relief to find that it was just long enough.  The leading edge had already been trimmed to a 45º cut.  When the finish edge was trimmed, this was all that was left.  If it had been 1/2" shorter there would have been a problem.

Since the batting and the backing extended a few inches beyond the quilt top, I decided to apply the binding with that fabric still attached.  I didn't want to take more than a 1/4" off the cornerstones in the border.

After the binding was attached, I pressed it over and decided there was enough room to add 1/4" and still have plenty of binding to turn over.  This morning I finished stitching the binding to the back of the quilt.

I like it a lot!