Finish the Quilt
prairie points quilt binding The final step in the process is hand sewing on the hanging sleeve, binding and signing the quilt. The quilt is photographed and a fact sheet created.
The quilt is straightened after quilting and trimmed, if necessary. The edges of the quilt are overcast with a zigzag stitch.

Next a tube of fabric is made for a hanging sleeve on the back of the quilt and sewn on by hand. The tube is usually about 5" wide and sewn the entire width of the quilt. Newer quilts also have a tube sewn on the bottom.

Finally a machine sewn double fold cotton binding is added to the front side and turned for hand finishing on the backside. Occasionally a binding is attached to the back first and finished using a blanket stitch on the front of the quilt.

Either a label is sewn on the back identifying the piece or I write the information on the sleeve, preferring no set spot.

 quilt edge double fold binding
sailing marble quilt binding
 Corner of "Sailing" showing binding of several different marbled fabrics.

Hand sewing the binding completes the process. And finally, unless the piece is small, before it's final washing and drying, I usually take a nap with the quilt as my cover.