I hated binding too until one day I saw Martha Stewart doing one on her show. She turned her's to the front and machine stitched it with the quilting appliqué stitch. I even ended up buying the Pfaff sewing machine she used because I was so impressed with how easy and nice it looked. I also learned from experience that making the binder no larger than 2 inches wide makes for a binding that lays flat and looks straight.