Finished: Dresden Plate Minky Quilt for Princess Petunia!

Dresden Plates for Princess Petunia, 47" x 47", 2013

Sarah's Dresden Plate quilt is finally finished!  A week late, but better than never!  I hope my little princess likes it.  This is a replacement for the Minky quilt/blanket I made when she was born 5 years ago, which has been "THE" blanky, known as "her covers," ever since. 

 

Sarah's Original "Covers," as it looked new in 2007

 

This quilt became the blanky she wouldn't sleep without, the one she snuggled under to watch cartoons, and the one that served as dress up cape/cloak as the need arose.  The quilt top has disintegrated, the batting is coming through and washing away in the laundry, the once-pink Minky backing fabric is now an ugly grayish-beige, and the ruffled satin ribbon trim is looking pretty ratty.  It no longer looks anything like this picture.

 

So my mission with the new quilt was to create something roughly the same size, same weight, textures and feel, but with a big girl color palette.  Hopefully Sarah will accept the "new covers" as a replacement for the raggedy old ones!  I had toyed with the idea of embellishing this quilt with some hot fix Swarovski crystals to give it some bling, but after washing it I knew that was all wrong for this quilt.  It's much too soft and casual -- I'll save those sparklies for another project instead.

 

New Dresden Plate "Covers"

 

This is the second time I've bound a Minky-backed baby quilt (baby size this time, even though it's for a Big Girl!) with prepackaged 2" satin binding, and I really like the results.  I do use a lightweight batting in these quilts, with minimal quilting to secure the layers, so the quilt has a nice blanket weight, drapes beautifully, and is really snuggly.  Little ones love to rub the satin binding on their noses.

 

So, how do I attach the satin binding?  So glad you asked!  First, when I'm doing the initial horizontal and vertical quilting "in the ditch" between blocks to stabilize the quilt layers, I add a row of quilting stitches about 1/4" to 1/2" in from the edge of the quilt top, using my walking foot to prevent the Minky from slipping or stretching.  Then, once all quilting is complete, I trim away my excess batting and backing fabric to within about 1/4" of the edge of my quilt top.  Next, I trim away that extra batting and backing by serging along the edges of the quilt with a 3-thread overlock on my serger.  *IMPORTANT: Be sure to test your serger settings on scraps of your cotton fabric, batting, and Minky backing before you serge your actual quilt.  I found that I needed to adjust the dual feed on my serger in order to prevent getting a wavy edge.

 

Pinning Satin Binding to Quilt Edges

Wright's 2" Satin Blanket Binding comes prepackaged in lengths of 4 3/4 yards.  I needed two packages to bind the edges of my 47" x 47" quilt.  Join the lengths together before you begin pinning it to your quilt.  The satin binding will be creased in half down the center, with one edge sticking out slightly farther than the other.  You want that wider side on the BOTTOM of your quilt.  Carefully pin the satin binding to your quilt edges, mitering the corners and leaving about 5-8" loose ends at the beginning and the end.  The thicker your quilt, the more difficult it will be to line up the edges of the satin binding on the top and bottom of your quilt sandwich.  With a thick quilt like this one, you may want to baste the binding in place with water-soluble basting thread before stitching it down permanently -- that way, if you're a little off in some places, you can make adjustments.

 

Overlap your loose ends, and cut them with a 1/2" overlap.  Then, take the pinned quilt to your sewing machine, carefully pulling the unpinned satin binding ends away from the quilt, and stitch the ends together using a 1/2" seam allowance.  Now the loose part of your satin binding should fit your quilt perfectly, and can be pinned in place.

 

I stitch my satin binding to my quilt with a three-step zigzag, width 6.0 and length 1.25.  On my Bernina 750 QE, this is Stitch #7.  I used my 1D foot with Dual Feed engaged, but a walking foot would be a good alternative.  Actually, I would have had better visibility to precisely place my zigzag stitches at the edge of the satin binding if I had used my 20D Open Embroidery foot or my walking foot with the open toe sole attached.  You want the point of the left "zig" in the zigzag stitch to be right at the edge of the satin binding.  After securing the binding on all four sides of the quilt, I go back and zigzag down the folded miter of each of the four corners as well, so there are no loose loops for little fingers to poke around in.

 

The satin binding is kind of stiff right out of the package, but it softens up considerably in the very first washing.  Satin binding trim is pretty durable and can withstand frequent machine washing, but since your quilt edges are serged inside the binding, they are protected and you could easily repair or replace the satin binding in the future if you needed to.

 

Now that I've finished this belated birthday present for my niece, I can turn my full attention to the Machine Embroidery Blog Hop project I'm working on for next week!  It's actually very fitting that I finished the Dresden Plate quilt right before starting on another Blog Hop project, since I came up with the idea of using the machine embroidered applique flowers in the center of my Dresden plates last November, as part of another Blog Hop that I was participating in using Marjorie Busby's embroidery designs for GO! die cut shapes.  My new project post won't go up until this Thursday, but there will be lots of other projects and tutorials for you to enjoy from various bloggers throughout the week, and at each blog post you'll have another chance to win a FREE embroidery design pack of your choosing from Anita Goodesign !  Here's the lineup: 

 

Monday, March 18th:

Kelly - I Have A Notion
SewCalGal

Tuesday, March 19th:

Cindy - Sew Cindy
Trish - AllThingsCrafty.com

Wednesday, March 20th:

Marjorie's Quilting Bee
Margaret - The Average Quilter

Thursday, March 21st:

ME! ME! ME! ;-)

Rebecca Grace - Cheeky Cognoscenti

Fri., March 22nd

Gene Black - Alabama Artist
SewCalGal

Once again, I want to extend a HUGE thank-you to SewCalGal and I Have A Notion for organizing this hop, and an even bigger thank-you to Anita Goodesign for graciously agreeing to sponser the event and donate prizes for our winners.