Do you hand or machine baste the outside edges, after quilting, to get it ready to put on the binding? Or do you just pin the outside edges of the sandwich together?

Thanks for your input.

I sew all the way around my quilt before binding. It helps to keep it from slipping.

I hand baste, just a long running stitch trim and add the binding

I machine baste right around the edge before binding.

I baste and then do the final trim on my quilt before adding the binding.
I like the way stitching the edges help keep them in place while sewing on the binding :D:D:D

sometimes, depends on how busy i am, a few tmes, i've surged them, that makes it come out really nice, and a great edge for binding

I never used to baste , just in too much of a hurry to get it finished. But I did find that taking the time to baste the edge made the binding that much faster and easier. Now I never sew a binding without basting. Even quilts I have sent out to the longarm , I ask them to baste the edge . ( not all do it without asking) .

I run a row of serpentine stitching around the outside before I cut off the extra batting. It catches both the fabric and batting to keep the edge of the fabric down while sewing the binding on. Even if some gets trimmed off, it's still enough to hold the edge down. I just be sure to keep it within the seam allowance so it doesn't show. I find it easier to bind this way, it's one less thing to fuss with. :)

I hand baste before binding.

I rarely baste the layers before binding. I usually have quilting out to the edge.

I also machine baste before binding. It stablilizes the outside edge.

I pin the binding on the edge of my quilt BEFORE I trim away the extra backing and batting. It lays flat that way. I leave about 1/8 inch of the backing and batting wider than the seam allowance. MY binding is nice and full that way. I lost points at a quilt show because my binding was not full.

I usually quilt all the way to the edge and I don't cut off the excess backing or batting until after I attach the binding (as long as the quilt is basically square, that is!).

When I cut away the excess, I use pinking shears and leave about 1/4" from the seam. I find that I fill the binding out better that way.

Is that hand or machine sewing all the way around?

I always baste the edges as I quilt on my longarm machine. Many, many of the my customers have thanked me for doing this. They say it makes sewing on the binding much easier for them.

If I am using a polyester batting I will sew around the outside. If I use cotton, such as warm and natural, it seems to "stick" better. I tried not sewing once with polyester and the fabric folded over.

I quilt to the edges so I don't baste. I do pind the edges before quilting though

I zig zag the edges then add the binding.

I don't do it...wasn't taught to do it, and never found it necessary.

I baste every quilt edge. If I'm at the machine I'll machine baste and if I'm watching a tv show I'll hand baste. Both ways work equally well for me, but I defintely do baste because of the ease with adding the binding. I baste with less than 1/4 so that I don't have any of the basting stitches show and I don't need to pull them out.

I never baste or pin.

I trim off the excess batting and backing and then do a wide & long zig zag stitch all around the entire edge of the
quilt using a walking foot. On my Bernina 1031, its set at 5mm width and length. It works great.
I don't pin the binding as I go except for when I get to the corners. I use a walking foot to apply binding or my Pfaff with the IDT(built-in walking foot).

I machine baste the edges of my quilts with a fairly long stitch trim it and then sew on the binding. This works great for me. Oh yeah, I always use my walking foot.

Thank you everyone for your input - it was a great help to me.

Jackie

I pin 'em. Never thought of basting the edges, but I'll have to try it.

I started zig zagging the raw edges when I was fairly new quilter. I'd got the binding all sewn on to my first quilt and noticed that not all of the backing had been caught in the binding. Once I figured out that zig zagging would solve this problem, I kept on doing it.

I baste around the perimeter of the quilt usually right after quilting it and before the binding is put on.

I use saftey pins on the edge...works for me

I machine baste with a long stitch about 1/8" inch in from the edge. It takes a bit to do this, but I find it is worth it.

Wall hangings and lap quilts I surge before binding. Large quilts, machine baste. I like flat even edges. D in TX

I have serged the edges of my quilt before binding it and it was the most perfectly squared quilt I had done.

I always hand baste.

I like the sergered edges but have hand basted

I machine baste around the edges oft the quilt befoe
I put on the binding.

ef :)

I machine baste with the longest stitch I have.

I'm surprised at how many people baste, surge, zig zag, etc. I never have. Never even heard of it til now. Since I've never done it this way I don't think I'm going to start now. I like the way I do it. It works for me and I"m happy with it. I quilt to about 1/4 inch from edge, then add binding to the top, trim excess away, fold to back and machine sew binding down from the front SITD method. I use a ton of pins and I like the way I do it.

I sew the binding on first before trimming anything , that way I can be sure that the binding is full enough. The judges don't like binding that is empty. I never baste.

I had never heard of basting b4 binding until I took a quilt to a long-armer and she did it - so much nicer! Now I machine baste each side after I quilt the border.

I also serge the edges. I find that its easier to sew the binding and that it comes out looking better.

This is a good way too - thanks for your input as I might try this one for my little grandson's quilt and will be a lot faster than hand stitching the binding on the back side.