Originally Posted by ckcowl
machine stitching the binding to the front, folding it to the back and hand stitching it down with an invisible stitch will solve your problem.
i have in the past 10 years tried a few times to machine stitch the binding on both sides. i don't care what anyone says it always looks like crap! i figure if i'm going to put all the work into making a quilt top and quilting it- it makes no sense to ruin it with a shoddy technique of finishing. you do not save anything, you only make what was good work look poor. sorry...my 2 cents worth...i have never seen a complete machine stitched binding that did not look like a machine stitched binding.
What you say may be true, but there are some of us who are afflicted with arthritis in such a way that we can't hand sew. I am one of those, and I am not willing to give up my love of quilting just because I can't hand stitch any more. My quilts are made to be used, hence the machine stitched binding.