The last quilt I did I decided to hand finish the binding... Just because I had never done it before and wanted to see if it looked that much different. I am not convinced that the hand finished is that much better and got a sore finger as could not find a thimble that fit my finger... plus it is going to a little 5 year old boy and I was thinking the hand stitch will not be sturdy enough. I was thinking I would top stitch around the binding just to make it sturdier. My next one I will not do the hand finish I will machine finish it.. Sturdier I feel.