I usually serge the edges. Makes a nice neat edge and I don't worry about 'losing' the backing. Also makes a nice 1/4" guide to stitch around. :lol:

Just on scalloped or curved edges.

I stitch around the edge after it has been quilted and before attaching the binding.

Never and have had no problems

Same here! I do not want my backing slipping away or puckering when attaching binding. It is a little more work but worth it!

I have a customer that serges the quilt top and the backing before bringing it. They are the easiest quilts to quilt and no fraying. It sounds like a lot of work to me, but I just might buy a serger and do mine that way.

I quilt to the edge and press the edges before attaching the binding.

Me too!

I tend to sew the perimeter. I had one tuck, because I didn't and swore that I would not let that happen to me again!

TreeFrog

It is quite apparent that we all have our ways of getting the job done and they work for us, so that is good. I stay stitch the edge only if I am sending it out to be machine quilted. Otherwise, I just trim and attach my binding and never have any problems. But, I do have a dual feed machine, which works similar to a walking foot.

I recently sent Eddie a quilt and it came back nicely trimmed and tightly stitched around the edge, not basted, but regular stitched. I was amazed at how much faster I was able to get that binding put on and also noticed it was easier to keep the exact width (3/8") that I was aiming for. I usually just sort of wing this rather than setting up something to use as a guide. I have a quarter inch medical tape bridge built on my machine and am lazy enough not to want to take it off when using a different size seam width. Eddie's stitching made that odd width much easier.

So, what's the point of this long message? I think the edge stitching helps you be more accurate.