hutch farm

I am making potholders and I always have trouble joining the binding strips (diagonal) . No matter how long I leave the tails on my binding, it is never long enough to sew together. I especially have a hard time sewing diagonally and figuring out which binding tail goes on top and which goes on the bottom. Sewing them right sides together is like a wrestling match. I leave the tails unsewn almost all the way across the bottom of the square (just sewn at the corners), but still it seems like they are always too short. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!