Whatever is necessary to finish a quilt, a cushion or any other object, will be described in the Finishing articles. You will also find the customized labels which we design for most of the quilt projects under Finishing.
With so much colour throughout the quilt, and a pieced border "melting" into the main pattern, it was clear that this quilt would need a narrow, solid binding in a bright and daring colour. We discarded black as too sombre right away and white for being too tame. Moreover, both colours couldn't really be called "bright", could they?
Of course, the Seagreen quilt got a label especially designed for this project. Using the Swath tool in EQ7, we created a simple embroidery/quilt pattern for the S as initial of Seagreen. The S was outlined using a running (quilting) stitch and the rest of the word was outlined using a backstitch....
We simply love scrappy quilts and looking at the unbound, quilted sandwich, the light blue solid in the borders seemed an almost too demure “last” visual impression. So the binding needed a scrappy theme as well....
It was clear from the start that with its irregularly scalloped edges, the Spitzenstuecke quilt couldn’t just be finished with a “normal” binding. We decided that the quilt needed something “lighter” and a bit different from the usual narrow fabric strip cut on the bias...
The SommerSonnenStrahlen quilt was made to be used as bed quilt. With a light batting, it is ideal for hot summer nights when our German feather quilts are not suitable....
For the Martha-Quilt, we designed a label that serves two purposes. Not only is it the carrier of the necessary information for the after-world, but it also shows the painting which was the source for the line drawing which became the embroidery motif in the centre of the quilt. We thought it quite fitting to create a label with this painting as a background, adding both the painter and the year it was painted.... (30 July 2011)
For this quilt, deciding on the design for a label was very easy. It was quite clear that another flower would be needed here. Technique wise, we took the easy way out, too: We simply fused the flower with the label information on it to the back of the quilt... (8 July 2011)
Isn’t it always nice to finish a quilt? For us, it is an almost festive moment when we have put the last quilting stitch into our latest creation. Attaching the binding and the hanging sleeve is rather an anti-climax however... (31 May 2011)
Small quilts are a very rewarding experience. They look terrific, can be used as wall-hangings in the smallest of flats, and they are a challenge without taking up too much time to complete. This applies to all stages in quiltmaking: piecing, assembly, quilting, and also to the very last stage – to finishing the quilt. No cutting and sewing of endless binding strips to never ending quilt edges, not to mention the thousands of invisible hand stitches needed to finish the binding for a large quilt... (19 March 2011)
After quilting, the only thing to do is to decide on the type of cushion closure you want to make. Although a little more complicated, we chose to make a zippered closure on the back of the cushion. It is neater than the easier flap closure and looks much more professional... (5 March 2011)