Thanks. I don't force mine either. Most of the time I clip it on with clover clips.

I do not trim off the excess batting and backing before starting. First I sew a narrow zigzag along the raw edge of the front. Then I use the walking foot to apply the stitching which has been lengthened to 2.6 or 2.8 on my Bernina 350. Then I trim out each corner - Patrick Lose's suggestion as noted earlier. Finally, I stitch the binding to the front, trim off the facing and batting, and hand sew the binding to the back. Been doing this since the mid 80's when I got my first walking foot. Have tried many times to master machine sewing on the last step, but have not been able to achieve anything but mediocre results - hence the hand stitching for the final step. My hat is off to those of you who can do it well!

some great little tips here... it appears everyone has there favorite little tricks. It never ceases to amaze me the things I continue to learn from this board.

I do it just like this. I used to pin and then used glue, but the last two I just folded the binding to the back and stitched from the front, sewing about 5 inches at a time before peeking under to put the next section in place. On one, I never missed a stitch, on the other I missed about an inch. I was using my featherweight, and that presser foot helped a lot to keep the seam at the right spot.

I do pull my binding a little as it is being sewn on. Just a little tug to make it taut, hold that down with my fingers, and through the machine it goes. A little tightness is better than wavy.

I agree wholeheartedly!

That makes a whole lot of sense but I've never heard this before. Thank you so much for sharing the information! Now to see if I can remember it when I next bind a quilt!;)