Binding Work

I have a portable and manageable project for today to take along and work on in little stitches of time in between my daughter's piano competition and my son's history project for school. Can you tell what my "Saturday" project is from the photo above?

I finished machine quilting this baby quilt yesterday. It is my second machine quilting project-- a little larger than the first. Others could probably have made one or more of these in one day, but I have worked on it in small blocks of time over several weeks. Last night, I cut out the strips of fabric for the binding, prepared it, and rolled it up to be ready for some sewing with my morning tea.

I have surmised from reading quilt/crafting blogs that there is division among quilters between those who loathe the binding work and those who love it. After only two small projects, I think I belong to the second category. The binding work is like a leave-taking ceremony or a vesper service at the close of the day. If I am able to make a large quilt, I can imagine that the binding work will be much more difficult, maybe laborious, but also more meaningful.

For those quilts that have been pieced and/or quilted by hand from fabrics gathered and scraps saved over years of daily life. . . I can't even imagine. . .