Our youngest granddaughter, Rainee, lives in Washington State, and she just turned 3. I decided she needed a new snuggly quilt (with only a short amount of time to make it). I asked Sommer to help me pick out “I Spy” type fabrics once again. This time I cut 9″ squares and pieced them together. I also thought it would be fun to Repliqué her initial in one of the blocks using the technique from my Snuggle & Learn book.
A number of friends have been backing their kid’s quilts with Minky fleece recently, and it sounded like the perfect choice. Sommer loved it’s softness! I also wanted to turn the back to the front for a soft edge, as opposed to a traditional binding. While backing and finishing the quilt, it hit me that this would be a good topic of the week, so here are some of the things that worked for me.
* When laying out the Minky backing, I smoothed it on the work surface, but didn’t stretch it at all. In the past I’ve had pucker problems if I stretched it (even a little).
* I made sure the backing was at least 3″ larger than the quilt top, and I chose not to use any batting.
*I smoothed the top onto the wrong side of the backing and safety pinned it well. Then I free motion quilted it (this also helped to not stretch anything) – in my favorite spiral pattern.
* Once the quilting was complete, I trimmed the backing 1 ¼” away from the edge all the way around.
*Then the fun of turning began. Step 1. Begin on a long edge and fold the raw edge of the backing up to meet the raw edge of the quilt top. Then bring the fold up to the top and clip or pin.
2. Do this all the way off the next edge.
3. Bring the folded outside edge up to the raw edge of the quilt top, gift wrap style, creating a miter.
4. Fold the new raw edge of the backing to the raw edge of the quilt.
5. Then bring the folded outside edge up to the top and clip or pin.
6. Continue all the way around and then machine stitch in place with a decorative stitch.
Voila – a quilt with a snuggly soft back and edge!
The day Sommer helped me pick the fabrics for her cousin Rainee’s quilt, she noticed my fish bowl full of scraps. She hadn’t played with it for months and asked if I could bring it down off the shelf.
I’ve posted pictures previously of various grandkids playing with the scraps, and she had so much fun I had to post a few more! She had a blast pulling and throwing.
When she tired of plopping them on her head, she took aim at me.
Then she laid on the floor and did a bit of scrap swimming.
She’s big enough now to do a good job of picking up afterwards – so it’s fun for both of us!
Pat Gilane says
So much fun for both of you. Minky, huh. Will have to try that.
Isn’t Sommer younger than Rainee? Have fun on your Sew and Go trip.
Cheryl says
One of our members is teaching this method at guild tonight. She isn’t using Minke, but, regular cotton backing. I’ll be doing this with Minke, for a baby quilt, soon. Thanks.
Marie McGinnis says
I’m going to use this on a quilt for my 1 year old grandson. Looks like this is an awesome way to bind the quilt. Oh, and thanks for the listing of quilt topics! Made it so easy to find now that I’m ready to try it out.
Brenda Perry says
thanks so much for the tutorial. I am making 2 minky backed quilts for my sister’s great grand-children. The shower is this weekend, so I wanted to finish fast. I didn’t know how to bring the minky around for the binding. Your tutorial was just what I needed!!
Thanks again