Part 3: Pink and Gray Herringbone Baby Quilt

Once the top is completed, what do you do to finish it?
This quilt will have a Minky backing.  It will be finished on my domestic sewing machine, not sent to a long armer.  If your quilt is going to a long armer you will need 4-5 inches of batting and backing on each side of the top.  One reason I love baby quilts is that they are so easy to sew at home on your domestic machine.

I have elevated the table in my sewing room with 8" bed risers that were less than $9!
  https://www.walmart.com/ip/CreativeWare-Adjustable-Bed-Riser-System/5148131   Best investment I have made for my back in a long time.  This elevated table makes it easier to lay out my quilt "sandwich".  Sandwich is what you call the top, batting and backing put together and ready to sew.  I laid out my batting nice and smooth on the table top.  Then I put the pieced top on top of the batting.  Made sure none of the edges went past the batting.  I like basting spray.  There are many who swear by putting a safety pin every few inches.  I have always loved just using the spray.  I fold the top back on one side, lightly spray the batting, smooth the top out, the pull back and spray the other side.

When that is completed, I flip the whole thing over.  Now batting will be facing up.  I do have trouble with Minky not wanting to stick when I use the spray.  So this time I sprayed the batting and the back of the Minky.  I held nicely so I could get my first quilting stitches completed with no shifting.
I quilted this by quilting on the gray, very close to the edge.  It makes a neat chevron pattern on the back.
The final part is the binding.  I HATE hand stitching.  The quilt police (and some very nice quilters) seem to think a quilt must be sewn on the front and hand stitched on the back.  It just seems to me we live in the industrial age and machine stitching is very secure.  I love a flanged binding.  It gives the edge a look like it has piping.  It adds an extra special touch AND has the security of a machine top stitching.

See what I mean?  I used the gray for the outer part and the pinks for the inner part.  I first saw this technique on another blog from Aunt Marti's 52 quilts  http://www.52quilts.com/2012/05/tuesday-tutorial-susies-magic-binding.html    There are several others available on pinterest.

So another baby quilt finished.  Originally it was 40x48 inches.  I always wash my quilts as soon as I finish.  That removes any finishes left by the manufacturing process and shrinkage or color bleeding I will have to deal with, not the new owner.  It seems to measure now 38x46.5.
It is now available on my Etsy shop:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/566614808/baby-girl-pink-and-gray-herringbone?ref=shop_home_active_1

Now you know how to make your own, or if not enough time or motivation, this one is available to purchase.