I don't usually machine bind my quilts, but my last two charity quilts were flannel and I wanted to get them done and to the group, so I did do them by machine. Not sure how I was able to manage it, but the front looked just as nice as the back (sewn from the back). I still would rather hand sew my bindings down, but I think that either way is just fine and it really does depend on the user - if a child, probably would last longer machine done - if a wall hanging, it probably would look better if done by hand ...