I have two gorgeous quilts that I got back from my quilter, two, maybe three years ago. And I haven't used them. Why? Because I am too d%*n lazy to hand sew the binding down.
I have been making mug rugs for friends and family this year, and have gotten lots of practice machine sewing bindings on those little things. Yesterday I decided to apply the technique to two much larger pieces. I got out two unbound quilts and pinned the binding in place, then machine sewed it. It took about an hour to do two quilts.
And you know something? They turned out just great. I stitched in the ditch and only had to go over two or three spots where the binding didn't get caught on the underside. If I were entering the quilts in a quilt show, maybe I'd sew the binding by hand. But seriously, the machine stitching looks unobtrusive and is probably stronger than hand stitching. Darn, I think it looks pretty good.
The only downside is that you do have to wrestle with a big old quilt, and your fingers get pricked a lot with the pins. But done is a good thing, right? I am so happy to be able to use these pretty quilts.
Hope you had a nice 4th of July, if you are in the States. We ended up staying home after all. I had a big allergy attack and after a couple of benedryls, I was good for nothing but jammies and my slippers.
I think a lot of sewing is going to happen at my house this week. WooHoo!