04/15/2026
This is from Santa Fe Quilting.
^%$%$*& #? Blankety Blank Binding Corners
We finish most quilts with a binding of fabric. It looks simple. It’s just straight sewing around the quilt sandwich, sealing the top, bottom and batting inside. And yet, it’s a task that can give us some frustration at the corners.
There are numerous ways to learn how to put on a binding: online videos, classes and friends. Binding can be sewn on by machine on one side and finished by hand on the other side or the new trend, machine stitching on both sides. We have classes for both methods at the store throughout the year.
I don’t want to write about how to put on a binding but rather, how to make your corners look square, not round. This assumes you know the basics of the binding process.
The corner can be the most criticized part of the binding process, by us or by judges at shows. It’s generally a simple fix. You sew toward a corner and stop one fourth inch from the end and back-stitch 3 stitches to lock the threads. The trick there is to make sure the quarter inch is exact.
You then take the quilt out from the machine and fold the binding up and create a 45-degree angle in the corner. The strip lines up with the next edge you are going to sew. Fold it back over the quilt at the corner and line up the strip so that it is ready to sew. Now is the time to PAY ATTENTION! Make sure that when you fold it back in place there is no folded fabric showing from the back of the quilt. In the picture below there is a small amount showing. This needs to be gently rolled on the front side, back down the front. The pad of your index finger is perfect for rolling it downward on the front side. Check again on the back side that you can’t see it.
When you check again it should look like this next picture.
Only the corner is showing and not the excess fold fabric. And that should do it. Pin it in place for security so that it won’t slip as. You put it back under the foot. If there is no excess fabric in the corner and your quarter inch seams are exact, you will have enough fabric later when you fold the fabric to the back. It is when you leave that extra fold fabric in, thinking it won’t matter, that you create too much padding in the corner and there will not be enough fabric to cover the other side corner or the padding will have the effect of rounding your corner.
[Just because your corners look square now, they won’t after washing. You should stitch down your corner folds with the binding stitch. You do this when you are tacking your binding down. You manipulate up the back corner and come through to the front, then work your way down the front corner, go through the layers to where you are tacking your binding and continue on to the next corner. “Rinse & Repeat”, as they say, until all corners and your binding is finished. Hint from Cindy B.]
Wishing you flatter, straighter, “squarer” corners,
