humbird

Yep, what she said!! And I totaly agree. To each his own however, but I personally enjoy that last bit of hand work.

Olivia's Grammy

I always use 3" binding and teach 3" binding too. I saw one of the published quilting instructors used 3" and thought if it was good enough for her it was good enough for me. The reason she gave was that it gives just a tiny more of a bite to hold the binding to the quilt. I have a fear of using to small of a binding and the edge raveling out. I do use a
2 1/2" for wall hanging since they aren't washed. There have been many, many different threads on the width of binding. As with every topic we have here, it's what works for you.

jjuhl

I have been using this binding foot for a couple years now. I think it does a really nice looking binding and saves a lot of time!

mhansen6

I always machine bind my quilts. I have gotten quite good at it. I cut my strips 3.5 inches. I like a little wider binding. Sew at the binding to the front at half an inch turn to the back and stitch in the ditch from the front. I like the fact that the binding is stitched down so it won't come loose. If you use a matching thread color you don't see it on the back. But there are no rules in quilting, you do what you feel comfortable doing.

qwkslver

That is how I do mine too. I put too much work into a quilt to ruin it at the last minute by machine stitching the binding on the back. I look at it as my time to look over what I've done and pat myself on the back for finishing.

DixieLee

I consider myself a lousy hand sewer and I really hated doing bindings and I did not think they looked nice at all. This has been said many times here, but I machine sew on the back and turn to the front and machine sew with a decorative stitch. Sometimes I use a contrasting thread so it really pops out. I am going to try the idea of invisible thread sometime. I really think it makes a stronger edge to the binding to sew it down with a zig zag. I also use 3 or 3 1/2 inches for binding. I like the bolder look

pollyjvan9

To each her own, and how wonderful that we are all so different! I almost always apply binding by machine, like most others, sew on back, color match thread for both front and back, top stitch on front (just barely on binding) almost looks like stitch in the ditch.

I like "narrow" binding so I go the other way. I cut my bindings at 2 1/4".

SandyQuilter

Let's take it from the beginning. DON'T just start sewing at one end of a side and stitch to the other end. Your quilt edges will be wobbly.
Here's how to do it, whether by hand or machine.
I'm assuming each side will be sewn on separately, make adjustments for mitered lengths.
1. Measure the middle of your quilt from side to side and top to bottom. Don't measure the edges
2. So if the edge measures 86 inches, but the center measurement is 84.5 inches, cut the binding 84.5 + 2 inches extra for corner turns.
3. Fold the binding and quilt into half and quarters and mark. Match the binding markings to the quilt markings. Yes, the quilt will have ripples because the binding length is shorter than the quilt. The excess for corners will hang off the quilt. Pin the binding to the quilt, working in the quilt's excess. It won't show when sewn on. Now stitch, using either hand or machine. It doesn't matter if you attach to the front and roll it to the back or attach to the back and roll to the front, that's personal preference. After the one edge is attached, and when it is rolled over to enclose the raw edges of the quilt, I hand sew the final edge on. Now repeat this process for the opposite edge, then do the top and bottom edges. If the quilt is slightly larger than the binding measurements, the quilt will end up square and flat--no rippled edges.
SandyQuilter

DawnA

to those who use the decorative stitch, a pic would be so awesome! Im curious how it looks on the back. Does the stitch go over the binding and the quilt? I guess it would have to wouldnt it? The only decorative stitch I have is a scalloped stitch and I use it on my bag handles. I would love to try this technique on my next quilt.

callen

I, too, do the binding with the flange method & I really like it. I never did have lots of problems with binding but I just prefer this method to just plain old binding.