sewbizgirl

I only machine stitch bindings. Life is too short.... I use a 2.5" binding that I have pressed in half, sew the raw edges even with the front of the quilt, and then flip the pressed edge to the back, just like you would if you were going to hand stitch it down. From the front I pin in the ditch, always checking to see if I caught just enough of the binding. It takes lots of pins, one right next to the other, all the way around. Then I carefully sew in the ditch on the front, removing pins as I come to them. I also pull the binding away from the stitching so I can actually get my stitches really close to the ditch and be able to press the binding back over them.

When done I check all the way around the back edge to make sure I caught the binding everywhere. Quite often I have to redo small spots where I missed. This is because I am picky and want that stitching to be close to the edge on the back, not way into the binding. I think that looks sloppy. This method takes patience and practice, but it's a whole lot faster than hand stitching those bindings down.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]545663[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]545664[/ATTACH]

Front side -- Back side
(This quilt has been laundered.)

Of course, if your quilt is going in a show, you'd better hand stitch!