A Wonder-ful Finish

Wonder Clips at work

This morning was my third try at machine binding, front and back.  Usually I attach the binding to the top with the machine, fold it over to the back and stitch it down by hand.  I enjoy the hand stitching in a Zen kind of way.  Since my second attempt and less than satisfactory practice piece with the machine, I have started using Wonder Clips for holding the binding in place as I hand stitch.  Stitchers rave about them and I finally understand why.  The clips have been thoughtfully designed with gripping "teeth", marks to help line things up, a clear side and a red side, and they are very strong.

So last night I sewed the binding to the top on the machine and placed the clips.  This morning I sewed from the top.

The top looks very nice and the back is not too bad and I say acceptable.  I had to go back and sew over a couple of spots that missed the binding on the back but all in all I am amazed and quite happy with it. Next time I use this method I will sew the binding to the back and then fold it over to the front and see how I like the end results.

32 x 39 inches, 100% cotton batting

MSCarol asked me to quilt and finish this top for her.  When I was looking through my stash for backing and binding fabric, I asked her if she could give me an approximate date for the top.  1992.
How amazing, and I am being sarcastic here, that the piece I put on the back had 1987 on the selvedge and the binding fabric had 1992 on the selvedge.

So what we have here folks is a Vintage Baby Quilt.  It's a good thing the sun came out today because that sentence is somewhat disturbing.