Continuous Bias Strips vs Straight of Grain Bias
 

I always use continuous bias strips for my quilts. Here is my dilemma...I need a 25 inch square of fabric for the binding; I am a little short of that amount of fabric. I am real close and with the extra 15 inches added for miter corners it should work out fine (fingers crossed).

My question is would I need less fabric if I choose "straight of grain" instead of the above mentioned application?

I know I can narrow the width of my binding to use less fabric. If I do that, what width should I use? As of right now, I am going with 2.25 inches. The quilt I am wanting to bind is a lap size if that helps.

Looking forward for everyone's input.

Dividing 25 " across by 2.25, you get 11 strips with a bit left over. Then multiply 11 by 25 and you get 275 inches -4 inches from attaching those together. approximately 270 inches to go around. Sounds like more than enough for a lap quilt.

I cut my bindings WOF. Since I buy 4 - 6 yd.s at a time I have enough.

I've actually started using 2" wide strips for binding on nearly all my quilts. You might cut some scrap fabric at 2", baste it on your quilt, wrap it around and see how you like it. Using Homespun's calculations, this would give you enough binding for a 78'' quilt.

You said you're a little short of a 25" square. How short are you? How big is the quilt? If you're using straight of grain binding, then joining the pieces on the diagonal uses a little more fabric than Homespun's calculations. Straight and bias binding both require exactly the same amount of fabric going into the quilt, but there are differences in how much waste is produced. I think there is more waste doing the straight binding if you are also doing diagonal joins.

I have lots of tricks to use less fabric for the binding.
First: you don't need 15 inches for the corners. You actually need nothing extra. The length of the binding is exactly the length of the outside measurement of the quilt. You just need to add enough for the final seam overlap, which can be the width of binding or less if you're willing to figure out how to do that.

Second: I don't do the complete 45% angle on the seams. I lay my strips on the cutting board, lined up with a line on the board, over-lap the strips one inch and cut the diagonal from the point of one end to the opposite point of the other. Pick them up RST and sew that seam. The seam is still on a little diagonal and will not produce bulk, which is the reason you cut those seams on the diagonal.

Third: You don't really need 1/4 inch seams. Ask Ricky Tims about that. A 3/16 inch seam or even a little less will hold just as well there.