08 December, 2013

"Look Ma, No Pins"!



Meet my newest time-saving sewing assistant; yep, it's Elmer's school glue!  I saw an online tutorial using school glue instead of pins for attaching binding to a quilt in preparation for stitching. You're probably shaking your head in disbelief, I did too; at first, but the more I read the more interested I became in trying out the technique. I had everythig I needed on hand, including a quilt just waiting to be bound.

Place your to-be-bound quilt on the ironing board and apply glue dots as shown in photograph above. I only attached a few inches at a time.



After matching up the raw edges of the binding along the quilt edge on top of the glue dots press it with a hot, dry iron to set the glue. Don't  use steam! This glue is completely washable, so much so that even one burst of steam will absolutely dissolve the glue without so much as a trace remaining, believe me.




Work your way around the quilt, including the corners (as shown) gluing and pressing as you go.

It was a joyful sight to observe the attached binding, all around the edges, as the quilt dropped off the ironing board and to the floor; the binding didn't budge!

The next step was to move the quilt to the cutting table and mark my stitching line, 1/4" from the edge. I always do this, it was a snap to mark without the bulk of pins beneath! I find the stitching line helpful because I always use a walking foot to stitch down my bindings and can't judge the seam allowance well enough with that foot attached, the line is one extra insurance step toward accuracy.

Stitching down the binding was smooth sailing all the way, the glue never got hard; it was soft and pliable, plus it held firmly, the entire time!  A word of caution: make sure that you use WASHABLE School Glue. The components of this glue guarantee a complete and clean wash out. The link for the tutorial I saw is here. I happened to have the clear school glue (leftover from the sparkle bottle) but the white school glue seems to work the same way, both dry clear.

There you go, tried and true!
Life is Good!



10 comments:

Janet O. said...

I've heard about this, but never tried it. Fascinating!

Sherrill said...

Hmm, very interesting. Sharon has some of the most different ways of doing things..guess that's why she's such a winner! Looks a little labor intensive at first but maybe the results are worth it in the end. Will hafta give it a try!!

Quiltdivajulie said...

I like seeing the quilt itself! What size is your tumbler die?

Doniene said...

Awesome!! I usually stitch my binding on and then finish by hand with a blind stitch! I may just have to try this great little tip!

Blessings

cityquilter grace said...

nifty tip!

Liz said...

Thanks for the tip. Welcome back. Liz

Mary said...

Tried it today (guess it is yesterday as the midnight hour has passed). WOW !! Was that ever great. I had the first stitching already done so used it to baste the folded over edge then top-stitched it down. Very successful. Thanks for the tip

Carrie P. said...

I used that technique one time for a quilt I entered in one of our quilt shows. I did not want any way sides. It worked well.

Tanya said...

I've been using Elmer's school glue for binding for quite awhile now and I love the technique too. I can't get many of my quilting friends to try it though. Much too daring!

Kelly said...

I recently tried the glue and LOVE it for binding!