I have always hand sewn the back, but the older I get, the more I am liking machine sew all the way.

I have done all of the above and even just had the quilter do the binding. I guess it depends on the look I am going for as to wether I hand stitch the back and/or the front - machine stitch -or pillowcase the quilt - I just decide what the quilt looks like it wants - "Speak to me of scraps of wonder!"

Just enjoy what you're doing that is what counts.

I hand sew the back. As much as I dislike doing it, I hand sew it because I like the look better. It's just personal preference.

I can't seem to do a nice job of machine stitching to the front with a straight stitch. For kids or charity quilts I use my 3 point zigzag to sew the binding down. I really like the look of HS to the back. I too have arthritis in my hands. I've quit HQ and have a dickens of a time crocheting, but sewing the bindings down with a blind stitch no problem. Whew, cuz it's the most relaxing part of quilting and I can then say my quilt is finished.

I hate any kind of hand sewing, so for me, I LOVE my sewing machine...

I can make it look better and stay filled or stiff if I hand stitch.

I am also one who machine sews the front and hand sews the back.....I save it for when I want to watch (really just listen) to TV or have quiet time when no one's home but me!!

I machine sew it to the back first then fold it over and machine sew a decorative stitch on the front, a wave, a zig zag or one of the other pretty stitches. Why? because I have a hand peicing project (GFG) and 2 hand quilting projects right now and don't have time to hand sew the binding on

I always hand sew the binding to the back. The cats love to curl up in it while it's in my lap.

I machine sew the binding on the back, then flip it over and glue down to the front....and then use a decorative machine stitch on the front side....I like machine stitching because it is more sturdy than hand sewing.....I really, really, don't want to do repair work on binding!