Eleanor Burns did a show on machine quilting and finishing quilts. The method she used for the binding was to cut her binding strip 3 inches wide, press in half, lay it on the front as we usually do and stitch it in place mitering the corners and such. She left a little of the batting (about 1/16 to 1/8 inch) beyond the edge and then turned the binding to the back. On the back she placed a strip of fusible thread on the stitching line and fused the back binding to this thread. She then turned the quilt to the front and with invisible thread on the top and thread to match the binding in the bobbin, stitched in the ditch with a straight stitch. She says she would never find time to finish any of her quilts if she had to sew the binding by hand.