Are you having trouble  turning the corners on your double fold bindings? Do they refuse to make a nice miter and lay down flat, even though the rest of your binding folds over nicely and behaves?

The problem may be as simple as the thickness of your batting. Try this simple tip to solve the problem. In the corner, fold back the quilt top and back and cut out the corner of the batting only. This will reduce bulk in the corner and make your corners behave better. Here are some step by step photos. First photo shows the quilt corner nicely trimmed, before the binding is applied. Second photo shows the top folded up and the approximate batting seamline marked. Third photo shows the batting trimmed out of the corner.

After the batting corners are trimmed, apply your binding in the usual way. I think you will find the corners will behave better.

Even though you may never have this problem with your normal bindings, you may find it occurs with embellished bindings, such as those with piping or an integrated flange.  Test construction of a corner in this type of binding before applying it to your quilt.  You may solve the problem by cutting out the batting, or you may find you need to widen your binding strip slightly to give you more ease.

If you are uncertain how to make proper binding corners, ask your quilting friends to look at your bindings and give you suggestions. (Or of course you could buy my book, Fast Fabulous Quilt Bindings.)

© 2013 by Shirley Sandoz and Mystery Bay Quilt Design.  All rights reserved.