Making Binding

I have been working on getting some of the binding done on the charity quilts. I started making binding yesterday and continued today. I find I like using my triangle tool to mark the 45-degree lines where the binding is joined.

I like the 2.5” binding when I am doing them by machine. I tend to use 2.25” if I am sewing the binding down by hand, but for the machine technique, I need a little more wiggle room. I got enough pink made for two quilts and enough red for two more quilts. I use the dual feed on my Janome to do binding which means I have to change the feet. Look what I found in the machine drawer:

It’s a dual feed foot with a quarter-inch flange. I had no idea I had this. I have been using the standard dual feed foot and using the markings on the throat plate to estimate a quarter inch. I couldn’t wait to try it out, but I wasn’t too impressed when I took the quilt off the machine and measured the seam allowance.

Well darn it! That looks more like 3/8” than it does 1/4”. The good news is that I was able to move the needle over to the right enough to get a better seam allowance.