When I was about to finish the Log Cabin Wedding Quilt I realized that the best binding would be no (seen) binding at all. So I attached an invisible binding – invisible referring to the top of the quilt. I did not sew the edges of the top and the backing together with an invisible stitch but made an easy binding which looks really nice at the back of the quilt. Here is how I did it:

Cut 4 strips for the binding, each one as long as the side of the quilt minus 2 inches (5 cm) and 3 inches (7 cm) wide. If your fabric is not long enough you have to join several strips to get the right length – in this case iron the seam allowances open so you don’t have to sew through to many layers of fabric.
Cut 4 squares 6 x 6 inches.

Fold the strips in half, left sides together, right sides out. Iron. Fold the squares in half along one diagonale and iron.

On the top of the quilt pin a triangle in the corner. (I basted the edges of the quilt because it was such a huge beast.)

Pin a binding strip along the side of your quilttop but start approximately 1 inch from the corner. The open side of the strip lies exactely at the edge of the top. The strip ends 1 inch from the next corner. Pin all sides and corners this way. The strips are always on top of the triangle.

Sew around the quilt. Don’t sew into the seam allowances at the corner. Sew up to a quarter inch, take 3 backstitches, take 3 stitches forward, leave the needle in the fabric, lift the presser foot, turn the fabric 90 degrees, lower the presser foot, take 3 stitches, take 3 backstitches and start sewing the next side. Take some backstitches at the beginning and the end of the seam to secure the thread.

Cut backing and batting to the size of the top. Cut the corners to reduce bulk. You can even cut the batting down to the seam to reduce bulk but I found that it made a nice “filled” edge when leaving the seam allowance of the batting.

Now turn the whole binding strip to the backside of the quilt. The seam should be exactely on the edge. Pin the strips to the back. When turning the corners be careful to get a nice 90 degree corner – use a thick knitting needle or a pencil to push the corner out.
Hand sew the binding strip to the back of the quilt. The color of the thread should match the color of the strip not of the backing.

Finished.

This is how the binding looks from the front …

… from the side …

… and this is the back of the quilt. I really like the way the backside gets a “frame”.

I hope you found this way of attaching a binding interesting. And maybe you can even use it on one of your next quilts.

By the way – this kind of binding is also called “facing a quilt” and is often used when finishing art quilts.

I’m linking this to Off the Wall Friday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop and to Brag about your Beauties.