Artfully Binding an Art Quilt

Two quilting friends came over last week.  One, an art quilter, and the other, a traditionalist.  Both were looking at my 4th art quilt, the Lake Michigan Beach Boys quilt, already discussed here on this blog.
Both quilters immediately zoomed in on the binding and were so struck with it and seemed to admire it greatly!  I do admit that that is one aspect of this quilt's finishing that I am most proud of.

When you click on the quilt--maybe even double click on it--you can see that the binding seems to be a blend into the design.  This involved using six different fabrics.  On my own, I never would have been able to figure out how to accomplish this.  BUT I had a wonderful teacher in Marcia Stein, and she has published a super-helpful book called PICTURE THIS!

On p, 69 of her book, Stein says:  "I like the bindings of my borderless quilts to blend in with the main design.  this is easy enough to do if the seam joining the two fabrics goes straight across.  But sometimes the fabric needs to continue going on an angle through the binding, and this requires a slightly different approach."

I want to avoid copyright infringement, of course, and thus I can't show here (because photos are essential!) how then Stein directs one to approach this tricky situation.  Her photos are essential!  (And I didn't take my own to illustrate this part of the construction.)  All I can advise is "Buy her book"!  This tip alone makes the price of the book worthwhile, but there is much more for any art quilter to gain from owning a copy of PICTURE THIS!  by Marcia Stein, C&T Publishing, 2010.