I think my Grandma B turned the outside edges in and then sewed about 1/8 to 1/4 inch from the edge. Sort of a top-stitch effect.
My Grandma B was very prolific at making "utility quilts,"
She may have been ahead of her time, though. She pieced the backs. The first Kaffe Fasset book made me think of Grandma B's quilts. (I thought some of them (Grandma B's )were extraordinarily ugly - but they did hold up and they were warm. She tied them.)