I attach it to the back before I sew the binding onto the front, so it is sewn onto the quilt and supports it. Then when I hand stitch the back of the binding - I stitch the binding to the sleeve. (Does this make any sense to you?? lol). If it is a large wall hanging I also do a small one at the bottom to helps the quilt hang straight and not curl or wave at the bottom - then I use a very thin strip of wood that the DH strips on the table saw for the bottom.