Recently I have become obsessed with ROUNDED CORNERS on my quilts. It dials up the cuteness factor and gives the quilt a vintag-y feel. Not only is continuous bias binding sooooo convenient for projects like this- once you figure out how easy it is, you'll want to round out all your quilt edges!!
I am one who loves to learn from photographs, so I decided to capture each step for quick reference.
1. The first thing you need to do is cut out the biggest square you can... to do this I simply fold my WOF on the diagonal so I can cut two squares at once.
2. Trim the selvedge off and fold on the diagonal again to make sure you have a square. My square measures 21 1/2" x 21 1/2".
3. Cut square in half diagonally so you have (2) triangles.
4. Take the selvedge side, flip over and line up with the opposite edge so right sides are together.
5. Pin to keep in place.
6. Sew with a 1/4" seam allowance.
7. Press seam open.
8. With the wrong side facing up and the seam running diagonally as seen below, you are ready to start marking your cutting lines.
9. Use a marker or pencil to mark your desired binding width from the bottom edge of the unit. I chose 2 1/2", which will end up fitting 7 strips across with NO waste. Bonus! You will have to move your ruler to extend the line to the end of the unit because this piece is long!
10. Use your last drawn line to measure another binding strip width (in my case, 2 1/2").
11. Draw lines all the way up to the top. Don't worry about the lines showing in your project, as they simply serve as cut lines and will end up inside your seam allowance.
12. Turn unit right side up and match up the diagonal ends. Off-set the strips so you have a triangle hanging off at the beginning. <If you match them up without leaving the triangle, you will sew a tube and it will be annoying.... I speak from experience.>
13. Make sure lines are off-set by a 1/4" (this will assure when you sew the seam, they will intersect at that 1/4" seam line). Your last line will match up with the open seam at the end. Pin each line.
14. Sew a 1/4" seam, removing pins as you go.
14. Press seam open. Cut along the line and you will magically have one loooong binding strip that is ready to be sewn around the trickiest of curves! It's amazing! This one square gave me close to 5 yards of binding (175" to be exact).
It's just that easy! This is a great skill to have, especially if you want to sew things like tree skirts, scalloped edges and totes. It's a game changer, because your binding will move so much easier around those curves and sit beautifully for you.
I will be releasing a milestone quilt pattern soon that will require this technique, so give it a whirl.
Thanks for reading,
Karlyn
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