I leave 1/4" of batting and backing around my quilts. I square my tops and edge stitch them before loading on my longarm frame. I baste the top close to that staystitching and down the sides using channel locks. As l advance, l baste the sides with channel locks. If there is fullnes or it stats to skew, l spray with water and starch and allow it to dry. Sometimes l bring out my travel steam iron to speed up the process. My quilts are dead square coming off the frame...so trimming 1/4" away is no problem. I love a round firm binding, and l never lose points!