A teacher a my LQS told me this after I had gotten serious about trying to learn to quilt again. I showed her a couple tops I had made and what I thought I might want for quilting( even tho the quilt police wouldn't have approved.) She told me "It's your quilt. Do what you want to do." It's made it much more enjoyable for me and the "pressure" is gone. Anyway, I use bindings & borders that "fit my quilt."

Is there enough leftover fabric to sew together into a strip? That is an option also...

Anita in Northfield, MN

No police qult here. If u find one, lets us know. We will tar and feather them. lol. Just go with what feels right.

Usually they shouldn't match. The main object of the binding is to enclose the quilt's raw edges, but it's second job is to stop the eye from falling off the quilt. If they match, there is no subtle signal that says, "Stop! This is the edge, you don't go any farther." Try a contrasting color that coordinates with the quilt's interior.
SandyQuilter

I have no set rules but use what goes best with the quilt. If I have enough border fabric left I might use it for the binding, if not I use something that sort of matches the quilt. One of the best looking bindings I've made was 18" pieces of the quilts fabrics pieced together as the binding. Backings are usually all one fabric that in some way relates to the front. I've pieced many backings, usually pieces of different creams and beiges and a few times used leftover blocks to create a design on the back. So you see I'm flexible about what I use and encourage you to do the same. No, the Quilt Police won't be knocking on your door, LOL! .

You make your own rules. They can change with each quilt if you want. That's the beauty of quilting. :-)

Just think of it this way, if you put a quilt away for let's say 5 years 'cause you were sick of working on it, you'd have to go & get fabric that would work with what you have - so, no they don't have to match - beauty runs quilt deep!!!

Rarely do I match the binding with the border. The only time I do that is when I just can't find something that will work with the border and the backing. Mostly, I go with a contrasting fabric.

Some times when I don't have enough border material left for binding, I mix other fabrics in the quilt, with what border fabric I have and that works or a solid color that would go with the border.

mine never match