Finishing the Wild Goose Chase Quilt - The Binding

Part 3:  Done!!  I am happy to report that I finished the Wild Goose Chase Quilt on Oct.8, 2014 but I have just finally had a chance to post about it now... 

I was busy working on a number of Christmas orders for our Art Jewelry from lovely shops and customers.  Thank you All...  very much appreciated!

  I really enjoyed making this Quilt. By the time I was done, it was like an old friend. After all, we spent a lot of time together.

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For anyone who would like to see the beginning phases of making this, here are the links to the first two posts on it..

Part 1: Piecing the Wild Goose Chase Quilt Top

Part 2:  Putting the Wild Goose Chase Quilt in the Frame and Quilting it

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... and Here are a few pics of the steps in finishing it.

  This was the day I put the last quilting stitches in.

 The clamps and end frames are off.

 Time to unroll it and take the basting stitches out of the cloth along the long side frames.

 Ready to unroll and reveal everything that was all wound around them for the last few months.

The backing just happened to be larger than the front so now that needs to be trimmed to size... and saved of course. 

I'm sure it will find its way into another quilt one day.

 I'm using red for the binding, so I laid it out and measured 2'' strips and cut them out.

  The strips were all sewn together into one very long strip with a bias seam... then trimmed to about 1/4".

.. this keeps the bulk to a minimum and the binding smooth.

...the seams were pressed open... then the entire length of about 30 feet was folded in half width-wise and pressed.

 I used the 1977 Kenmore Convertible Freearm sewing machine (the one I used to make the shirts for Max) to do the stitching around the border of the quilt. 

It was quite a bit to manuever the whole quilt but I was only going around the edge so it wasn't too bad.

 I lined the binding up with the edges of the quilt fabric layers and used about a 3/8" seam and stitched through everything.

 ...extra binding was left at the corners to allow for mitering the corner.

... had no problems with the stitching... all went smoothly.

I worked late in the studio to finish this step before I went to bed. I wanted to be ready for a fresh start in the morning.

And what a morning it was when I awoke to this dramatic sunrise out over the Bay... 

What Beauty!  I love these sunrises!!!

*that lump on the horizon is the Isle of Haute about 24 miles away*

...then a while later the sky turned to this delicate combination.  Still so beautiful... but so different... in such a short period of time.

It is the "getting up early" reward.

After that exquisite distraction, back to business... It will be finished today.

... here I am trimming the edges again, to get ready to fold over the doubled layer of binding. The doubled layer makes a much longer lasting binding and easier and faster to hem too, as there is no raw edge to turn in.

 I folded the binding over to the back and used a blind hemstitch to work the edge.

 All Done.

Here it is displayed on an antique double bed given to Max by our friends, Mary and George, when they moved.  I like the way they look together. 
Hope Max enjoys it for a long time.

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Recently I was tagged by my friend Janice at Dancing with Sunflowers  to do a post on What I am working on and How do I create ... generally What is your creative process. Well since I am a very casual person, not formal at all,  I just go with the flow. I like to envision one art form translated into other mediums and try to understand and figure out how to accomplish it. I like the challenge of creating something from scratch.. and I do love functionality.  But being so informal I will use this post as my answer. Please visit my friend Janice, a very accomplished artist and needleworker and much more.

All for now from the Desideratum Art Studio up on the bluff in St. Martins, NB.