| In the April 2007 issue of CQMagOnline,
http://www.cqmagonline.com/vol06iss02/articles/697/index.shtml, I wrote
about one way to assemble your crazy quilt with batting, a false backing,
and a "dressy" back. In this issue I offer an alternative technique for
finishing the edges of your crazy quilt. Instead of using a binding as in
traditional "sane" quilting, the French Facing will give you a nice finished
edge. I like to use a very thin fabric for my facing to reduce bulk. Silk
suit lining fabric is a good choice.
Here are the step by step pictures I took while using this technique:
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In preparation for applying my facing, first I stitch right
along the edge of my quilt where I will be trimming my border. This
keeps all the layers of the quilt together, and will prevent the
velvet from shifting when I sew on the facing. |
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Trimming the edge. |
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You will need to cut four squares for facing the corners. Here
is one of the four corner facing units being cut. The squares can be
any size you want, but they should all be the same size. The smaller
the square, the more narrow the facing will be on the back of the
quilt. |
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Fold each square in half along the diagonal and press. You will
also be cutting four strips, one each the length of the side of the
quilt it will face. Cut them twice the width of your finished
facing, plus seam allowance. Fold each strip in half lengthwise as
shown, and press. |
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On the front side of the quilt, pin each corner as shown, lining
up the edges of the squares and the corners of the quilt. You can
machine baste around the corner, very close to the edge of the quilt
(in the seam allowance), if you wish. |
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Pin strips into place as shown, over the square with ends
overlapping. Do not carry the strips all the way to the edge,
however. Leave a small gap. |
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Sew around the perimeter of the entire quilt. This picture shows
what one of the corners looks like after it has been sewn and
trimmed. |
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Turn everything to the back, tucking the side pieces under the
corner piece. Iron and pin all into place, as shown. |
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Whipstitch all into place. This picture shows that I could have
made my corner triangles a little larger. A quilt judge at a
competition might think I should have!...but as a functional facing
this works just fine. |
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This is how that corner looks from the front of the quilt. My
velvet border acts as the quilt's visual frame; I thought a
traditional binding would be a superfluous design element here. This
is a nice clean edge! |
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As a final thought, I show this example so you can see that you
can make these facings as wide as you want to. On this quilt I made
mine extra wide, as my fancy back fabric just wasn't wide enough to
cover the entire back of the quilt; I didn't want any seam in
it, as the seam in that silk taffeta would be very noticeable. So
your French Facing can solve some technical situations, too. |
For an alternative quilt facing technique, Kathleen Loomis has an
excellent article in the Projects 2007 issue of American Quilter Magazine. |
