Originally Posted by Rose Marie
I used to not cut off the backing and batting before putting on the binding but have found it is more important to square up the quilt before binding.
I machine stitch my binding in the ditch rather than hand stitching and squaring up the quilt is very important.
I should have taken a bit more time ... I used to cut the backing and binding right down to edge of the quilt. I don't have the space to lay the quilt out to square it up, and for some reason, that hasn't been an issue. However, cutting things down while walking around the edge of a bed (and, yes, I did cut a sheet doing that little trick, too! <g>) anyway, I found that if I cut too close to the top, I would inevitably run out of batting and backing somewhere along the way. Now, I trim the batting and backing to with two inches or so from the top ... if you leave too much backing and batting, it is a constant battle to keep the edges smooth.