My girl friend uses the method of bringing excess fabric from the backing to the front, however, for some reason I have never mastered that technique to my satisfaction. If I have a small quilt, like a baby quilt, I will use the birthing method, then after quilting, I will stitch 1/2" around the perimeter of the quilt, so it sort of looks like binding. Otherwise I'll use binding for my quilts, and finish stitching them by hand while watching TV, sure helps keep me warm in this cold weather.