Do people really use pins to hold on their binding? Really? I stab myself often enough during the piecing & basting stages and I knew it would only get worse if I tried pinning my binding. Luckily I haven’t had to try it.

I came across a few reviews of Clover Wonder Clips while researching the various stages of making a quilt and it just seemed like a no brainer, I bought a box of 50 clips (10 weren’t going to go very far without constant rotation). Granted, I’m a sucker for a good task-specific gadget but I’m also quite realistic about my abilities.

Given I’m only just starting out, I knew it would take me a while to get through binding a quilt. Could you imagine all that time with a quilt draped over me, with pins sticking into me, or falling out into the lounge for a nasty surprise later on. The standard binding clips wouldn’t last long either, it doesn’t take much to pop them open and I have trouble keeping them in my hair for a day, how would they hold onto the thickness of a quilt sandwich?

The Clover Wonder Clips were perfect. They’re really strong (try holding one open for more than a few seconds) but they grab onto your quilt and there’s no way they’re coming off. They’re also really quick and easy to reposition, open them just enough and slide along or pop them on somewhere else. I used them to hold the binding all the way around the quilt to make sure my joins weren’t going to fall awkwardly on a corner, then in place of pins while machine stitching the binding to the front, and again to help hold the binding, and particular the mitred corners when hand stitching to the back. The pack of 50 also comes in it’s own neat little box.

Binding seems to be one of those love or hate things, it’s your favourite part or your most dreaded part of making a quilt. If you’ve been having trouble holding or positioning your binding, or have just been thinking of trying these clips, I would definitely recommend them. There are enough blood spots on my quilts as it is.