Baby quilt - Part Three

I'm back. I have finished my quilt! Yay! I'm really impressed with the results as I haven't done a quilt before but thought I'd give it a shot.

This is what the quilt should look like on the back once you've "sewn the ditches" (as seen in: http://monstereyesevents.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/baby-quilt-part-two.html) 
I made sure I sewed all around the edge of the quilt, too, just to keep it nice & tidy.

USING BIAS BINDING

I knew I wanted to put on some lovely periwinkle blue bias binding (from House of Fraser's haberdashery section) which just hides all those loose ends. I pinned the binding to the edge of the quilt like this (with the pattern-side facing up) and sewed down the crease in the binding, making sure that the binding would cover the line of sewing around the edge. I then folded it over to check it would cover the other side too.

When I got to the end of my vertical strip of bias binding I cut the end and simply hid it with the next strip that was going horizontally. Make sure the back looks as straight as the front. It can be a bit finnickety. Look at the left-hand image below. You will need to whip stitch all around the back of the quilt to attach the binding. This means threading a needle and picking up a bit of the fleece fabric then a bit of the binding fabric and repeating. This will mean you should hardly be able to see the thread at all.  

 

Here is my blanket below. Binding is done and it's almost finished!

All that's left to do is to pop it in the cot and do the baby test. My niece seemed to have a very cosy night's sleep in it! 

N.B. You might like to add labels to say how to wash it. Mine is colour fast and all the elements of it can be washed at 30 degrees in a machine, but I'm not sure I want to test it after all that work! Handwash should do the trick. 

Happy quilting!