More of my 'Journey'

As I was quilting Journey, (full shots of finished quilt here ) the quilt did not yet have that name.  Matchstick quilting takes a long long time on a home machine, so I have old shows on the television and I think about the name of the quilt, if it doesn't have one yet, and my mind wanders to other topics; guild work, my job, my family, and this time I kept thinking about where I started in quilting and how different my little quilting world is now.  

For example Binding 

Scared of binding ~ avoid binding, have quilts that aren't even bound ~ binding looks like a 3 year old put it on ~ I can bind a little bit ~ oh, look, machine binding ~ machine binding looks like a 3 year old put it on ~ practice practice practice ~ I machine bind all my quilts now, even the ones I am considering entering in shows or exhibits.

I used the background Chambray for the binding on Journey with just two slices of the yellow Chambray from Andover Fabrics

My machine binding has improved in the last year.  I read other blog posts with tips, and then worked at it until I had a technique that works best for me.  I cut the fabric strips 2 1/4" for machine binding. Sewing the binding to the front of the quilt with just less than a 1/4" seam, making sure to never go over the 1/4".  I press the binding toward the back after it is sewn down, and then stitch right on the edge of the binding on the back of the quilt.  I use thread in the bobbin that matches the front (that is where that thread will show) and I feel for the edge of the binding on the front as I feed it through the machine, trying not to catch it in the new seam.  I end up with a seam line that should be very close to the binding fold on the front.  

Is it perfect?  No.

Do I make it right every time?  No.

Will some judges not like this?  Probably.  

Will other quilters judge me on this?  Maybe.  

Am I happy with this technique?  Yes.  

And that last question's answer is all I need for my quilts.