I am in the process of doing four Quilts by a "Quilt as you Go" method.
I pin the binding really good to the back side of my Square or Strip. I then stitch from the front side 1/4" all the way along. I then flip it over and sew the same 1/4" from the back side on top of the binding piece. It takes more time but, if you missed anything on the front, you catch it on the back.......It can never come a loose period.
I also do this same 1/4" sewing around each block or strip that I am working on. It just gives your work more stability.
In these quilts that I am doing, I have used a white "sheet blanket" purchased at Blair for the batting. I have used two layers of this batting in each of them. I quilted some of the top block to the first layer of batting, then laid another piece of batting on the back piece of the block or strip and then did more quilting by machine on the top block catching all four pieces. I then do the 1/4" around the whole block.....makes it very stable.
When joining all of your blocks or strips, keep the bulk of your project to the left of the needle. You are able to fold and or roll whats to the left & right of the needle as needed. I use black plastic pinch type clips purchased at "Harbor Freight" to hole all my work. These clips have become my "best friends"..........Good luck with your binding.

Sharon S Video is the best...I love this woman...She is my hero...
The Starch is another thing I had learnt to use and it does make a diference....so starch starch and starch..... the fabric and bias will acomodate themselves and will "behave"

The only thing I would add to this thread is....::: RElax, calm down and smile..... You are in a learning process.... Give yourself a credit for even trying to get more perfect !!!!
Good luck :lol:

Thanks for posting this! I watched most of it during lunch today. But where do you get a tip for your Elmer's glue like hers?

I LOVE to do bindings. In fact, I have done the binding for 9 quilts since I started working at the quilt shop!!!

It's the quilting that holds me up. I love making the top, screw everything up with my quilting, and then am so happy to put the binding on and be done with it!!

I have never pinned a binding except when I do the mitered corners. Are you using your walking foot? That's what I use every time and I never miss a stitch. I also square up my quilt layers before I start and "preview" where I'm attaching the binding by starting out with a large stitch. If I like the way the binding will fold over and cover the edges, I go back over those first 6-7 inches and stitch with a regular size stitch too. And then I'm off and running. Biggest problem is getting the beginning and end of the binding to nicely cooperate into a smooth finish. We all have something we need to improve on, trust me. It will get better.

I love binding.

I leave the batting and the backing 2-3 inches larger than the front and then sew on the binding.. I have no problems, it always tuns out perfect. I trim after I add the binding and then turn and sew...

Thats what I love, turn and sew, soo peaceful to finish the quilt. Lilly.

I leave an extra couple inches of batting and backing. Then, i use a 2" strip, folded in half. The strip gets laid on the front of the quilt, edge of the strip on edge of the quilt top. I sew 1/4" with no pinning, stop 1/4" before corner, flip my miter, and go all the way around. Then i trim my batting and backing even with the front. Then, i machine stitch the binding on the back. To do this, i make sure the fold of the binding is just to the left of the 1/4" stitch line, hold my breath and stitch. When you flip to the front, the machine stitching will not be on your binding, but directly beside it, almost invisible.

Are you using a walking foot and quilting needle when you sew the binding to the front? I noticed when I was working on a tote for my sister that my machine was skipping as many as 10 stitches at a time. I switched to a demin needle (this was really thick) and the problem stopped.

All great tips from everyone, thanks. I didn't see where anyone said to use your walking foot. Does anyone use that to do bindings? I always use to use by quarter inch foot but someone suggested using the walkingfoot and it really is better.
Have fun

I would love to give you some advice, but I truely dislike binding myself...Actualy to be honest with you, I have several projects here that are not finished, because I couldn't do the binding....

dglvr, I have tried using my walking foot for binding..and i can honestly say the sewing was smoother..and easier..however I am terrible at binding to begin with so I wouldn't exactly take my word for it lol

Jami, I wish you were closer to me. Its hard for me to explain but I had the same problem when I started sewing. I loved getting into quilting but I was really bad at the binding. I got a project done and took to the quilt store here and the owner went step by step with me and walllaaaaa I finally got it right. I'm more of a sight person that has to actually watch and do as I'm watching when it comes to quilting. I'm in a very small town and other quilters are wonderful about helping when you need help.
Do you have other quilters around that would be willing to actaully walk you through the binding? Or a quilt store that someone would actaully give you a hands on lesson. Obviously not the teacher you had before though.
I'm going to try the sew the binding to the back and machine sew it to the front. I have a large quilt to finish and so many other projects I really don't want to sit and hand sew a binding to the back of a King Size quilt.
Hopefully it will look okay. Maybe while someone shows you the correct way they can show you the cheater way (back to front). Ha. Thats what I call it.
Good luck. I hope all the advise others gave you will also help.