Because of degenerating wrist joints, hand sewing is a very painful process for me. 90% of my quilts are for children's charities so I cut the batting even with the quilt top, cut the backing 1 1/2 inches wider than top and batting, double fold it to the front and machine stitch down using the walking foot and usually decorative stitches. The Quick Easy Mitred Binding tool is worth it's weight in gold for this method. The instructions are very clear and I especially like the nice flat mitred corners.