The book I learned from says to sew the binding on the front of the quilt, and turn it to the back to hand sew down.The teacher in my quilt class says to sew it on the back, and do the hand stitching on the front. Which way is right/

either! is just a matter of opinion and what you like.

I like to machine sew on the front and hand sew on the back. You could always machine sew on the back and the front. Tricky, huh?

I always sew mine on the front and hand stitch it down to the back .... not saying that's the "right" way, just the way I do it. :)

I hand stitch on the back, but if I do a machine stitched binding, I top stitch it on the front.
Just personal preferences all around

I THINK (now I could be wrong - so I'm sure someone will correct me if I am), but for displaying a quilt in a fair (or competition) my understanding is that the binding has to be sewn to the front and hand stitched down on the back. Our local county fair will accept all quilts, but their *binding* requirements are what I stated above.

For kids quilts and what I call "using quilts"... cuddle quilts... TV quilts to be USED DAILY AND WASHED OFTEN. I sew the binding to the back and use a decorative stitch sewing the binding DOWN on the front. My hubby's 100% flannel quilt was constructed over 4 years ago using this binding method, and that thing has seen the washer/dryer many times. It's holding together VERY WELL and has yet to need a repair.

I think it is a matter of preferance, and i've heard the same thing as you. I the cleaner seam on the front w/hand sewing on the back.

ditto

This is how I construct the quilts for NICU as well. Machine stitch on the back first, then secure with a decorative on the front.

Yep. Personally I sew to the front and blind stitch by hand to the back. This way if I do mess up, the mess up is on the back side.

Don't think there is a right or wrong way, what ever you like.

Barring a requirement for either NICU or a fair etc. I think it is strictly your preference. I'd suggest making a couple of potholders - bind them. Do each one differently and see which you like to do (and how you like the outcome).

I have to say that I love the look of the handstitched binding so I leave it on the front of most quilts. I match the handstitching thread color to the binding and if it blends better with the back, I will put it one the back.

I agree with the other posts. It just depends on how you want to do it.

Your teacher is certainly in the minority. Never heard of a teacher saying to sew to back and hand stitch to front. If I saw this at a quilt show that I was judging the maker would not get very high marks. Just doesn't make sense. Did she say why.

Sure you can do it anyway you want but to hand stitch to front makes the quilt look wrong side out. Hearing a teacher say something like this which is far out of tradition, acceptance and universal practice just blows my mind.
Her binding front must really look good.

Two other long time quilters there said her way is right ,(to do the blind stitch on the front). The teacher learned from Eleanor Burns, She is her niece
That is why I decided to ask all of you. I will always do the blind stitch on the back.
Of course, Quilts for Kids wants it all machine stitched for durability and I do machine stitching some times too.

BOTH WAYS are correct. It is what you are comfortable doing. If you are going to put the quilt in competition, I would had stitch it to the back. That is the "professional" method. My best friend does a lot of charity quilts and Quilts of Valor for wounded soldiers so she prefers to stitch the binding to the back and then top stitch it on the front. GOOD LUCK !! :lol:

I always sew mine on the front and hand stitch it down to the back

Both are right! I personally sew to front and turn to back when I'm hand-sewing, sew to back and turn to front if I am planning to machine stitch binding down.

It's probably a matter of preference....I machine stitch on the front and fold over and hand stitch on the back.

I machine stitch to the front and hand stitch to the back. I have entered a few shows this way and never have been told to do otherwise. I do know some people who do it the other way. I would think its a matter of preferrance.

I used to machine-stitch the front and hand-stitch the back - but my arthritic hands can't do hand-stitching any more. Now I machine-stitch the back first and use a decorative machine stitch on the front.

It works.

Personal choice.

When hand stitching, I blindstitch to the back. When machine stitching, I machine stitch to the front using a faux piped binding. It allows me to hide the stitching line in the piped binding ditch.

Neither is right. It is a preference. I PREFER sewing to the front and hand sewing to the back. This is because my old machine does a poor job of it. Now that I have a better machine, I'm going to try machine sewing it and then you do attach to the back first and then sew on the front.

Keep in mind that if you are showing your quilt in a quilt show, make the effort to sew to the front and hand sew to the back. A lot of judges will take off for machine sewn binding because it's not 'what is done' OR because most people really do not do a superior job of it.

I like to machine sew on the front and hand sew on the back.
I think either way is fine. :wink:

Personally, for traditional quilts, I like the hand stitch on the back for but for kids quilts, or something really chic or country I can see this way:

Pat Sloan does it all by machine:
[url]http://patsloan.typepad.com/quiltershome/pat-sloan-machine-binding-tutorial.html[url/]

But, we refuse to believe that Quilt Police are anything more than other's imaginations - so do what YOU want!

Whatever way you want to do it is the correct way. I personally like to sew it to the front and hand stitch it to the back but it is just a matter of taste and what you like best. In quilting and hand work I don't think there is a right and wrong way. It's your quilt, your time.

Ditto.....the way I do mine also

I sewmine on the front and turn to the back.

I think most people machine sew onto the front, but I prefer to machine sew onto the back. Whatever works best for you.

There are competition rules? Or just some hog wild quilt police?

Hand sewing to the front looks inside out? You have to be within 12 inches of my binding to see if it's hand stitched or machine sewn.

I have always machine stitched to the front and hand stitched to the back. No one told me that was the proper way, but I do prefer to do it like that.
Sue

It can be done either way, but I sew the binding on the front by machine, then fold over to the back and hand stitch.