I almost always round my quilt corners, it makes them hang better on a bed. I always sew the binding by hand using double hand quilting thread and small tight stitches. I tried machine stitching and it looked awful. So far my hands will still work, when they don't I will have to do something different.

I used to machine bind all my quilts; I started with a slightly wider strip for the binding, then use a bias tape maker, the really wide one. fold the binding in half over the edge of the quilt, and stich, it did take some finessing to get the corners looking pretty, but, I always have that problem. Since then I've discovered I enjoy the hand work, so I start it by machine, and finish by hand.

one of the things I do to hold the binding in place as I do the finial stitching is to use Steam a Seam lite tape. I put it on the binding before attaching to quilt, leave the paper on. then when I get to folding over, I take the tape off and press the binding in place. If I stitch in the ditch from the front, I dont miss places in the back pins didnt catch. I just love it. very much like Sharon Shamburg's glue method, without the glue. Not affil with steam a seam, just love it.

I do mine that way too except I never thought of using a decrorative stitch. I'll have to tery that!

I enjoyed this website. I learned alot. I am also new at binding. I found thise site very helpful. Thank you Kathy

Do you use 2 1/2 or 2 3/4 in. for binding when you do by machine?

the size of the binding you cut varies according to how big you want the final binding to be. I prefer a final binding width of 3/8 of an inch (I'll do 1/4 inch on very small quilts but I don't do too many of them). I use the formula of multiplying the finished width times 7 (to accommodate for the folding and turning) then, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I add a quarter of an inch since I do machine finishing from the front (this extra ensures that I catch the edge in the back without a lot of stress on my part). Therefore, for 3/8 finished the numbers are: 3/8 times 7 equals 21/8 or 2 and 5/8 then I add the 1/4 inch for a total cut width of 2 and 7/8. (I even make it easier on my self and just cut 3 inches if I feel like it.) For a 1/4 inch finished binding multiply by 7 which equals 1 and 3/4 inch cut width..then for my own ease, add 1/4 inch to equal 2 inch cut strip width. I actually consider each project individually before I cut because thee may be variations based on seam allowances on the edge (if there is no border) weight/thickness of batting, etc. The bulkier the quilt sandwich is at the edge the more inclined I am to give myself an extra 1/8th of an inch to work with. Again, I stitch everything from the front so I can control what the front side will look like....and the extra I have is covered nicely by an decorative stitch I choose to use.