Mitered Corners

I was so excited to see some signs of life....the daylilies at our condo entrance are poking through.  It's such a treat to see green.....I'm going to be watching every time I'm out.

I had a fairly busy day....but I did get a start on the baby quilt binding in between things.

I am NOT an expert quilter....but I have learned how to do a pretty simple mitered corner.....so I thought I would share my process. I know several quilters read this blog...so you're probably not my target audience on this one.  But if there is even one or two of you out there who don't know...this post is for you. Let's see how I do.

First of all....I want to share my choices.  I ended up using this purple polka dot for the backing.  Partly because I had enough of it....and mostly because I thought it was fun.  The purple is unexpected and the blue dots are a nod to the front. I chose purple thread on purpose for the bobbin so my less than perfect quilting wouldn't be as noticeable.  The star boarder leans a little to the purple side of blue....so it all works really well.

I auditioned several binding fabrics....and landed with a bold rainbow stripe.....because why not!  I love the way it looks on the front with the stars and on the back framing the purple. As of now....I'm about half done with the hand stitching.  

I always start my binding on one of the sides....and not usually right in the middle.  I didn't take a photo of that part.....I was just thinking about sharing the mitered corners.

I chose a wide seam allowance so more of the binding would show on the front.  As I stitched along I stopped with my needle down at the point where you see my pin....which is a seam allowance away from the corner and the next side.  The black dotted line shows the edge of the quilt you can't see.

Then I lifted the presser foot with the needle still down and pivoted and stitched out to the corner.  That's one of the secrets of this technique that was new to me. I lifted the presser foot but I DO NOT cut my thred.  

I rotated the quilt counter clockwise as I got ready to sew the next side. (I still haven't cut my thread) 

I folded the binding straight back creating that perfect triangle and gave it a little finger press.

Keeping this angle...next I folded the binding straight down along the next edge.  This fold happened to be right between the light and dark blue.  See the next photo.  

Once it's folded down and lined up along the side and started stitching right from edge. I never had to cut the thread.

When I pull the binding back it's like magic....a perfect mitred corner. I use this same technique when I do a fused binding around a canvas.

It almost falls exactly into place on the back....

making perfect mitred corner on both sides.

The stitching goes fairly quickly using a blind hem stitch....I just fold the binding under as I go.  

I do enjoy this mindfully mindless stitching....but I have to do it in small doses as it's hard on my hands. I think that's my new normal.  I'm expecting I'll finish in the next day or two. Yay!