When I saw the first draft of Xanthe’s Strudel quilt pattern, before even cutting my pieces, I knew I needed a wall hanging with a tassel!  I don’t know how to explain it… I’m not normally drawn to tassels – they make me think of old and heavy velvet curtains, which I would normally only appreciate in an old theater and not so much in my own home – but I find it just adds that perfect little twist, making it a gorgeous and unique wall hanging.  So here’s my tutorial for how to make a tassel for the Strudel quilt wall hanging.

Never made a tassel before?  Neither had I, but believe me, it is sooo easy! 

How to make a tassel

Materials:

• Perle cotton thread, or similar
• A completed wall hanging that comes to a point, like the Strudel quilt

In general, I would say a thinner thread makes for a more elegant tassel, a thicker thread gives you a more rustic look.  For my tassel I used DMC size 5 perle embroidery cotton.  I like the subtle sheen and I find it goes perfectly with the hardwood dowel and the cotton string I used to hang the quilt.  And, most importantly, it almost perfectly matches the colour of my binding!

Step 1: Decide how large you want the tassel to be. Cut a piece of cardboard to size or simply find something within your reach that has similar or slightly larger dimensions – you can always trim it later.  I used a 2.5” wide acrylic ruler and that worked out just perfect. 

Step 2: Wrap your thread around your cardboard, or whatever you’re using, until your coil is as thick as you would like your tassel to be (with my pearl cotton that was about sixty times), then cut the ends.  Take a 10” long piece of thread, feed it through the coil you just created and tie a tight knot. 

Step 3: Carefully slip the tassel off the wrapping device and fold it at that spot so that the knot is now at the top of the tassel.  Take a second 10“ long piece of thread and wrap it twice around the entire tassel, about ¼” to ½” below the tip.  Try to create a somewhat spherical shape at the top of your tassel and tie another tight knot. 

Step 4: Cut the thread loops open at the bottom and trim the ends to the desired length if necessary. 

Step 5: Now you just need to attach your beautiful new tassel to your quilt.  Thread one of the two strings at the top of your tassel through a sharp embroidery needle and poke it through the binding of your quilt, front to back, about 1/8” from the edge, and tie a knot in the back. Trim the ends and voilà, you’re done! 

Now that your wall hanging is finished, you will want to hang it. There are several ways to do that.  I have a detailed tutorial on my blog for a rustic look with fabric loops, a wooden dowel and a string, like shown at the beginning of this post – head over to Apples & Beavers for a detailed tutorial! 

Once your new wall hanging is up, grab yourself a piece of delicious apple strudel and enjoy – both strudels!  What do you think about the tassel addition?  Tell me in the comments if you’ll be adding one to your Strudel quilt wall hanging!

Once you’ve finished piecing and quilting your Strudel quilt you may find yourself looking at the beautiful flag shape wondering how to bind 120 degree angles.  Sure, you could just wing it and go for the quick and dirty approach… Or you could just follow this simple tutorial and have perfectly mitred corners!  I know what I’d be choosing (particularly since I’ve done all the hard work for you!).

And let me tell you something: this tutorial will make you a master binder for ALL kinds of angles!  Just keep in mind to line up your binding strip with the next edge of your quilt when creating the first fold – and you will have a perfectly mitred corner, not just for 120 degree angles but for ANY obtuse angle. 

To be honest, I haven’t encountered any other obtuse angles in my quilting adventures so far, and I’m guessing that sticking to somewhat traditional quilt blocks and layouts I won’t come across any completely random shapes, but I can’t help it, my background in engineering just makes me appreciate the broad validity of this concept.  So please excuse my bragging… 😝 

But enough talking, let’s start! 

How to bind 120 degree angles

Materials:

• A unbound, quilted project with obtuse angled corners, like the Strudel quilt
• prepared double-fold binding to fit the size of your chosen project
• matching thread in sewing machine
• matching thread and needle for finishing the binding

Step 1: Whether you’re machine or hand-binding your quilt, just start like you always start – pick one of the sides of your quilt and start attaching your binding strip (I usually start somewhere in the middle, leaving about 10 inches of binding hanging to be joined later).  As soon as you are about four inches away from your first 120 degree corner, stop. 

Step 2: Fold your binding to the right, so that the edge of the binding and the next edge of your quilt form a straight line (see dashed line in picture below). 

Step 3: Depending on the colours of your fabrics and your light conditions, a good finger press might be all you need to create a sufficiently visible crease. 

Step 4: But if you want to play it safe, feel free to use a temporary marker to enhance the visibility of the crease you just created. 

Step 5: Now, continue stitching until you get to that line, then stop with your needle down and lift your presser foot up. 

Step 6: Pivot your Strudel quilt clock-wise around your needle, lower your presser foot again and finish sewing your seam on the line you just created towards the corner of your quilt, two to three stitches, depending on your stitch length. Back-stitch and cut your thread. 

Step 7: Your seam should now look like this: 

Step 8: To continue, refold your binding on the previously created crease, then fold it back along the next edge of your quilt – the two folds should meet at the corner of your quilt – and secure it with a pin.  

Step 9: Starting at the pinned corner, continue to sew on your binding strip along that next edge until you get to the next corner. 

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Step 10: Repeat the previously described steps for the remaining two 120 degree corners, then finish attaching your binding as usual until you have completed the entire round. 

Before stitching the binding down on the back of your quilt, I suggest gently pressing it towards the seam you just created. This way it will be much easier to fold it over evenly. 

Step 11: Now finish the binding with your preferred method, by machine or by hand. For a wall hanging I personally would not want to see that extra seam in the front that’s typical for machine binding, so I suggest hand-stitching the back of your binding. You can do a less noticeable whip or ladder stitch, but since I’m currently finishing all my quilting projects with a chunky hand stitch, this is what the pictures will show. 

How to bind 120 degree angles AND finish with perfectly mitred corners!

Again, attach your binding along one of the edges of your quilt, until you get close to a 120-degree corner, about half an inch away or so, then stop. 

Step 12: Fold the next side of your binding over, creating a neat mitered corner and pin it in position. 

Step 13: Then, continue your seam until you approach the next corner. Repeat the described procedure until your binding is completed.  

Turn your quilt over and admire your perfectly mitered corners!  Thanks for following this tutorial on how to bind 120 degree angles.  Let me know your thoughts and comments below!