Three Dog Night

I cut binding at 2 1/4 inches and sew onto the backside of quilt then bring it to the front and move needle to the right one position and sew down just on the edge of front binding.

cashs_mom

This is how one of my friends does her bindings especially on baby or children's quilts that will get hard use and many washings. She uses a decorative stitch to stitch it down and it looks great.

Onebyone

I usually sew both sides of the binding to the quilt at the same time. (5353) Binding Part 2 - Sewing on the Binding - YouTube

Iceblossom

I've tried various things and am just happiest with the hand finished edge made with French Fold Bias Binding. I wash my quilts and know the edges do hold up. For years I really tried to simply the binding process especially since my hand work is agonizingly slow, the needle threading hard on my eyes, and so on. I also keep telling myself "a kiss with every stitch" to keep from swearing or sewing in tension to the project... I just never got quite the results I wanted with machine and decided to go back to my old way instead of learning new sewing skills.

But of the techniques I used, wide decorative stitches are also a possibility especially for baby quilts. This is the time for the repeating flower motif or whatever strikes your fancy. You might need a fairly hefty machine sometimes to get over the corners. Keeping the design along the inner edge of the binding will hold down whatever is going on in back.

Not an answer to your question but I typically make wider than usual bindings, it is my last chance to add fabric to a top and I am typically using something coordinated or contrasting. For my queen sized projects I also use a thicker batting than currently popular, and less quilting (again than is currently popular), and the wide bindings seem more appropriate. I usually cut them at 3" or larger, but sometimes it might depend on the width of stripe or other design element. I don't trim my back/battling until after the binding is sewn on at the normal 1/4", and measure from the seam out for the width I want. Then I cut the depth I need for my wider binding through the batting and backing.

Onebyone

I too use 3" binding strips. The extra width makes a perfect miter.

QuiltE

Great idea for the sharpie notes!

Another tip for the test piece ... make sure you use all the same fabrics/battings as the quilt. Different weights/thicknesses and you may need the seam a little wider/narrower to get things to line up just right!

A Wee Reminder ... if the outside edge of your quilt is not a plain piece of fabric/border and there happens to be stars/points ... changing the seam width could risk points being cut off. One way to work around that, is to trim the quilt edge a little wider than normal, so that you get the intended 1/4" seam buried in the now wider 1/2" (or whatever) binding seam.

b.zang

2-1/2" binding works fine. Sew it to the back, the pull around to the front. You will see your stitch line. Line the front binding up so it just overlaps the stitch line and then top stitch it down.

Things that will affect what is seen later:
- thread colour used in the final sew-down (kind of obvious, but match both top and bottom
- how far from the edge your top-stitching is
- how well you line up the top stitching with the ditch on the back

I like to aim for the top stitching to land just alongside the back binding so the bottom thread colour may differ from the front which is matching the binding. I know this is not the preferred situation, but it works for me. Sharon Shambler has a video demonstrating this and how to glue down the top binding before stitching to ensure perfect placement of the stitching you see on the back.

Quiltah Mama

[QUOTE=AprilM;8720598]You arent the only one to wonder about this - been there, done that!

I asked around to get some advice on this one and a friend told me that when she binds by machine that she sews the binding on the backside and flips it to the front so that you are machine finishing the binding on the front side. You dont need to change the width of your binding. You are making the front look nice and neat because you can actually see what you are doing. You will see those stitches on the back so just load the bobbin with thread that matches the back.

This the method I use too, that way I see only one stitch line on the front, and as mentioned, I match my bobbin thread to the color of the backing. I most common on my donation quilts just make my backing at least 2" wider all the way around, I then do my quilting, trim the batting even with quilt front with scissors, and then trim my backing to 1.5". I fold to quilt edge, 3/4" wide at that point, iron, and fold to front and iron, clip and stitch down. I use my stitch in a ditch foot to ride along the edge,, offset my needle a bit to stitch it down. I like this method too because I get a perfect miter corner, I set my binding top and bottom, then both sides, my corners are perfect. Either method works good for me.

aashley333

I think I will try sewing the binding to the back and bringing it to the front. I am new to adding a separate binding piece, but I am loving the chance to add another layer to the quilting process.

Onebyone

I have always stitched the binding to the back first even when hand stitching. I am experimenting with lining the binding strip with very thin batting. I don't want puffy but completely filled.