Am I supposed to remove stay stitching?
 

Lol....have I been doing this wrong all of these years??? I machine baste around the outer edges of my quilts before machine quilting them. In a response to a different thread, someone mentioned "when you remove the stay stitching".....is this something I am supposed to do before applying the binding?
Learning something new every day! :)

If the stay-stitching does not pull up the fabric when the seam allowance is folded under there is no need to remove it.
I have left it in on a quilt with bias edges and have not had any problems after using and washing the quilt.

I've never removed it, either in sewing clothes, costumes, or quilts.

I personally do remove the stay stitching because I hand baste & worry about whether the little knots might be visible but otherwise the only time you really need to do it is if your thread color is visible through the binding.

I'm sure it's overkill because I leave the knots I bury from quilting in there & they're not an issue. There was once when I caught my stay stitching & accidentally pulled it up through the binding fabric when machine stitching that part of my binding, but that's been the only issue I've ever had from leaving it in.

I never thought of stay stitching around the quilt sandwich, but I really like Tartan's suggestion of stitching around the quilt top.

If my border is made up of little pieces, I stay stitch the edge of the top - near enough to the edge so that the binding will cover it. It keeps the pieces from coming apart at the edge.

If the border is one long piece of fabric, then I do not bother with the stay stitching.

I never removed my basting thread when I made larger quilts. You just DO what feels comfortable for you. :)

Whew! Thanks all! ;)

I always leave it in. It actually adds an extra bit of stitching to help hold the quilt together around he edge. It doesn't hurt anything.
peace