Tartan

You will need 1/4 inch past the seam allowance on your quilt top if you want 1/2 inch showing on the front.

citruscountyquilter

I generally use a 2.5 inch folded in half with a 3/8" seam allowance. You want to have your binding a little wider in the back to cover your stitching. If you want the wider part in the front then stitch it on to the back first and then hand stitch it to the front.

Things to consider: If you use a border then the width of your seam allowance can be varied. If you don't have a " border and you are applying the binding next to a block then you have to go with 1/4" seam allowance so your block won't be off and you won't lose points etc.
When you are mitering your corners remember to stop the distance of your seam allowance. If you use 1/4" seam allowance you stop 1/4" from the end. If you are using a 3/8" seam allowance however you will stop 3/8" from the corner; 1/2" seam allowance, 1/2" from the corner.
You want your binding to be full - in other words the batting needs to fill the width of the binding. If you use 1/4" seam allowance and a wider binding then your binding won't be full to the fold.

Hope this all makes sense...

FroggyinTexas

I couldn't ever use a 2 inch binding! You are a better woman than I am. I use a 2.5 inch strip folded in half. I have used 3 inch binding and it is so much easier than the more narrow binding. It becomes a design element for the quilt back when you use a wider binding. I don't see any reason not to use the 1/4 inch seam. froggyintexas

DogHouseMom

this might help .....
http://www.connectingthreads.com/tut...ding__D99.html

DOTTYMO

Do you use 2.25 then fold just that in thirds or do you fold 2.25 in half then half again? Sorry feeling thick this morning. It sounds like just what I am after as I never seem to fill the binding with equal amounts each side.

maviskw

This is what you need to do if you use a wider binding. I trim the back and batt "roughly" to about 1 inch or a little more beyond the edge of the pieced top. Then sew the binding on with the 1/4 inch seam allowance on the quilt front. The batt and back will extend beyond the raw edges of the binding.

After the binding is sewn on, I cut accurately with a ruler and rotary cutter as wide as I want that seam to be. Just do short cuts, and line up the ruler with the stitching.
With a 3 inch binding: folded in half is 1.5 inches. The seam to sew it onto the quilt makes it 1.25 inches left. Fold that in half and you have 1 1/8 inches that you want to leave on the batt and back layers. I would make it one inch. You need a little room for the thickness of the batt.
Hope this makes sense, and hope it works for you.

sewwhat85

it also makes a difference on what type of batting you are using

Aurora

I use 2 1/2" folded in half as well. The front is nicely framed and there is a an easy wrap to the back for hand sewing.

BizyStitches

Depending on the quilt, but I have used Nancy Zieman's Fuse 'n Bind and the binding has a nice size and comes out perfect. But one thing I found out is that if you do not have a border and attaching to the block I happen to do this and lost the points on my star block. So now I know better.

Taughtby Grandma

I usually go with 2.5", fold in half and use 1/4" seam.