Originally Posted by michelleml
okay what does birth it mean??
Basically you layer the backing, batting and top wrong sides out, sew all around the edge leaving about 8 inches open (the way you would when making a pillow), and then turn everything right-side-out through the opening. Aside from sewing the opening closed, you can also sew 1/2-inch or so in from the edge all around for the look of sort of a fake binding. (The trick is in how you layer; it's a little more involved than what I described.)
I think this method is used primarily for baby quilts and utility quilts. It would be unwieldy on a large quilt, I think. The edges of a quilt get the most wear, and this type of edge does not last as long as a traditional binding edge (which has several layers of fabric covering the edge). I personally never had much success with this method and much prefer binding a quilt.