what color binding?

10 years ago

A guy that I work with just lost a cat... he'd only had it since November and it had FIP which is fatal so the poor thing died and wasn't even a year old. I wanted to make something for him to remember Salem by, so I did this. I'm not planning to put a border on it because I think that with something this small, a border isn't really necessary (unless you all think I *really* should). I'm having trouble deciding what color binding to use. I was looking at red, blue, and purple. I want to use a batik or solid, nothing with strips or patterns because I don't want it to look awful if the lines aren't matched up perfectly.

I always said I stink at applique, but this went pretty well. I used a blanket stitch, pivoted a lot, and went really slow and managed to stay in the lines. I used a fuzzy material for the cat and as I've grown accustomed to doing, printed a cat face and then free motioned over the paper to make the face. I've never done free motion quilting except for practice until tonight. I started out wanting to echo quilt, but I only did one "lap" around the cat and that got old really fast. So, I decided to free motion, and the more I did, the easier it got and I kind of developed a rhythm. It's just one of those things you have to get in and do. Nice to practice on something this small rather than a big quilt and I used a green thread that blended really well with the background. It's not perfect as some of my lines crossed and some of the points are sharp instead of rounded, but it really does make the cat stand out. I learned a lot as I seem to do with every project.

By the time I was done, I got so sick of changing colors and winding bobbins and re-threading the machine that I didn't know what to do. I kept switching back and forth between straight stitching, blanket stitching, and free motioning, and monogramming... I think I used every stitch and foot that came with my machine and was picking up that stupid little screw driver every 5 seconds to switch back and forth. If I ever get an embroidery machine, I'm going to get one that will get off the table, go in the bedroom and climb the wall and pick the right thread off the spool holder and carry it back to the sewing table and thread itself for color changes :o)

I didn't quilt all the way to the edge because I'm going to trim when I square it up.

Anyway, what do you think about binding color? I still have trouble with things like picking colors...

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (16)

msmeow
10 years ago
Bobby, what a wonderful gift! I love it! Your appliquÃÂ© looks great, too.

For binding, I like that darkest turquoise green color in the background. I think that would be a nice contrast.

Donna
toolgranny
10 years ago
I'm with Donna. My first thought on seeing it was that dark turquoise in the circles.
Related Professionals
Kearny Furniture & Accessories · Silver Spring Furniture & Accessories · Topeka Furniture & Accessories · Bloomingdale Interior Designers & Decorators · Davie Flooring Contractors · Inver Grove Heights Flooring Contractors · Kalispell Flooring Contractors · Palm Harbor Flooring Contractors · Palm Valley Flooring Contractors · Saint Louis Park Flooring Contractors · South Lake Tahoe Flooring Contractors · St. Louis Flooring Contractors · Turlock Flooring Contractors · Tanque Verde Flooring Contractors · Newnan Furniture & Accessories
geezerfolks_SharonG_FL
10 years ago
Unless I see the fabric/color next to the adjoining fabric, I have trouble deciding, too. I think your project is very well done! ConGratz!

SharonG/FL
magothyrivergirl
10 years ago
Like Sharon-I need to audition different colors to decide which looks the best. You may find using the same fabric as the background just may look perfect.
If you haven't already squared this, make sure you find the center point -probably the kitty-and square out from that point.
I learned in a workshop given by Sue Nickles - always fold your background fabric in half both ways to locate the center to help in placing the first piece for appliqueing.
Mark the outline with a disappearing pen before you cut to make sure you are cutting where you want so kitty is sitting straight. You may want to sew on the binding before you actually trim away the extra.

This is a very,very thoughtful gift and you did a great job.

Bobby~Congrats on getting to the point where you are enjoying the process. Your developing skills show how much fun you are having! Yay! Make sure you come back and show the finished project!
teresa_nc7
10 years ago
That is soooo cute, Bobby! I love everything about it! I also like the darker aqua blue color or maybe a solid the shade of your background fabric green. If you don't have a suitable binding fabric, I would use the background fabric as the binding, which would recede rather than contrast or stand out. A thin border of the darker turquoise/aqua and a border of the green background would frame the quilt - adding a mat border as is done in a lot of artwork.

Teresa
nanajayne
10 years ago
A nice thoughtful gift, nicely executed. Your friend will appreciate the effort.
As to binding I would audition the aqua in the quilt, my choice would be one of those but the background green would work IMO. Nice job.
quiltnhen
10 years ago
A lovely job and a really thoughtful gift. I concur, my first thought was the darker color in the background print.
LindaB/CA
day2day
10 years ago
What a thoughtful gift! He will love it.
The cat's face is precious. ...so cute.
The darker green gets my vote for binding.
TFS.
jennifer_in_va
10 years ago
Cute!

I think you could bind in black, and it would make it look like a picture frame.
K8Orlando
10 years ago
It's a very nice gift. I'm sure any binding you use will look fine; I audition mine too and see what looks best to me. For this one, I would try to pull out one of the colors in the background fabric; any of them would be fine, and like Jen says black would work too.

I'm glad you're playing with free motion! Sometimes you can take the pattern in the fabric, like the circles in the green, and loosely follow along those lines. It's kind of free motion and kind of tracing, but it usually looks nice.

kate
kiendu
10 years ago
I vote for black... especially because it's for a man. More "manly"...
mary_c_gw
10 years ago
You've probably decided already, but I would use black. It would definitely give a picture frame effect. It is a portrait, after all.
rosajoe_gw
10 years ago
So Cute!!! You are really good at machine applique! Your friend will love such a thoughful gift.
Rosa
vacuumfreak
Original Author
10 years ago
Wow, thanks for all the sweet and helpful responses! You all are awesome.... I gave it to the guy and his wife last night and they were really touched.... I thought the wife was going to cry and their reaction made it worht the 4 days of work it took to make... they aren't quilters, so they didn't notice any mistakes that someone who knew what they were looking at would and even commented that the color for the collar I picked was virtually the same as the one that cat actually had.

Here's a picture I quickly snappped from my phone of the final product.... I was in a hurry because I wanted to give it to him that night and only had an hour to fix things that the washing machine messed up a little (mostly the binding)...

I did a pieced binding.... I didn't want to have to buy anything so I just used stuff I already had and am relatively happy with the way it turned out. The guy said he is going to frame it!
msmeow
10 years ago
I'm so glad they liked it! It looks great!

Donna
nanajayne
10 years ago
Congratulations. Isn't it a nice feeling to make someone happy.