I think the quilt police have my name...
 

I am just going to say this up front. I don't like hand sewing and avoid it at all costs. I not only don't like doing it, I am not a real fan of seeing a lot of it.

I do my bindings by machine and love the look. Both of my grandmothers did theirs the same way. Stitch it to the back and roll to the front and top stitch. That is the look I like best. I do sometimes go the other way and stitch in the ditch from the top. It all looks good to me.

At a quilt show last Thursday I was looking at something with my MIL and the vendor commented on how I could use it when I did handwork. I chuckled and said, "I don't do handwork if I can avoid it."

She said, "Except for your bindings, of course."

I said, "No. I do those by machine. I like how they look that way."

My MIL said, "I love to do handwork," but the woman would not talk to us anymore.

Am I the only weirdo out here that doesn't like handwork? People talk about how relaxing it is but it gives me a pain in my shoulders and a headache. I see no point in being physically miserable if I can achieve the results I want with a machine.

I know there are no QP but I think there are some quilt snobs!

If you are a fellow weirdo, you aren't alone!

BTW, I do crochet and that doesn't bother me.

I do as much by machine as I possible can. I like it done that way, too. Plus for me it seems sturdier. Funny, I crochet, too, and have also done some embroidery and counted cross stitch. So, I am a fellow weirdo.

I hate handwork too. I've tried to like it, but it's just not for me - same reasons as you. I also crochet. Birds of a feather! :)

I think you are your own quilt police.

I do as little as possible. I have a neck injury from a car accident 25 years ago and have a pinched nerve. This coupled with my carpal tunnel ( a result of compensating for the nerve impingement) makes it impossible for me to do anything that requires fine motor skills. I cannot grip a needle for any length of time due to its size. My entire hand goes to sleep and then the pain and tingling begins. So I do my binding by machine too. It would take me months to hand sew a binding on a quilt. I have no intentions of ever entering a quilt in a quilt show, which hand sewing on a binding is a requirement.

I do everything by machine too.

I love binding by hand, but that's where it ends. My quilting buddy from VA is allergic to handwork and does it all on the machine. Do what you enjoy.

I do all machine peicing, quilting and binding. :)

I love doing everything by machine. I used to be very accomplished at hand embroidery, but handwork takes too long. It doesn't help that the arthritis I've got in my hands makes it very painful to apply bindings by hand. I don't do hemming by hand either!

Pam

I avoid hand work like the plague. That said - I like the way the binding looks when hand stitched to the back and I can't for the life of me get my bindings to look good when I try to machine sew it on both sides. It never matches and I have a "ghost" stitch hanging around the outer edge of the binding. So I suffer through hand binding.

I know Sharon Shamber does her bindings all by machine (front and back) and gee ... she wins big shows (and bucks) with her quilts so if its good enough for her (and the judges), then why not? Of course when she does her binding by machine it looks fantastic. Mine looks like an afterthought.

You will not see me doing hand sewing every evening. But once in a while-------like for bindings-------it is relaxing for me.

Another thing I do, is when getting ready do a quilt sandwich (I only do small quilts usually) is that I take the top and the batting, pin the two together within the body of the quilt adn then whip stitch the batting to the top. Then when I'm ready to add the backing, I've got the other two pieces firmly anchored. Relaxing---------and not hard for me.

HOWEVER---------that's what I like to do. What the rest of the world likes to do, is their choice.

You are not alone in this issue. I have been quilting/sewing for almost 40 years. I hated sewing hems by hand... and in all my years of quilting .. I can count the number of bindings sewn by hand on maybe two hands. Many of my quilts have been finished just exactly as you have. I look at it this way .... I can get more stitches per inch and as close to perfect thread tension using a machine.... so I sew my bindings on by machine. Some I bring to the front nd top stitch as you do some I bring to the back and stitch in the ditch on the front...
I am happy with my quilts and so are the recipients... and thats how I measure my quilting.

I don't think that just because you don't like hand work that you are weird, and I hope that because I love hand work you won't think Im weird. We are what makes the world go round. We all have our likes and our dislikes. Oh and I do love to crochet, see we do have something in common.LOL

I machine stitch my binding onto the back of the quilt. And hand sew it on the front. Besides it looks really good., my husband and I spend time together while I hand sew. I also hand sew hems, patches on.

No hand sewing here. Avoid it at all costs. Dear friend loves it, but when she wants it done in a hurry she comes over and has me machine sew her bindings. Has happened only twice, but I'm ready when she needs me. :) It's the Ying and Yang of quilting. We all balance each other out.

Add me to the list of those who do it all by machine. I do not like hand work and only do so as a last resort. For those that do, I think it's great. I never cared for sewing on buttons either, so I used pearl snaps instead. Don't care for doing button holes either... I'm not entering my quilts in shows for competition. I just want to make something that others can enjoy and that I hope will be cherished (and used) after I'm gone.

Thanks, everyone! Nice to know I am not alone.

I can do a pretty good job when I have to. I just don't like it. I sew my labels on by hand. I used to embroider a lot.

I just think I would cry in frustration if I were faced with a queen-sized quilt to hand sew the binding on with.

Now, I do love a good challenge. So, I am trying to do the Farmer's Wife Sampler on my treadle. I MAY hand sew that binding but probably not.

I'm with you, I avoid handwork too. I sewed sheer curtains for a decorator for years and had my fill of hand sewing!

to each their own. I prefer hand sewn bindings...I can machine piece, machine quilt, etc, but that binding HAS to be hand sewn to the back for me! Just the way "I" prefer it!

But for the record, I also hand piece and hand quilt..gives me something to do in the car, Dr offices, etc...

I sew my binding to the front and SITD to attach it to the the back. It looks good to me. I had my GD sew hers to the back and bring it to the front and machine sew on the edge. It didn't look bad from the front though I prefer the hidden SITD stitches, but the 'ghost' line that showed up on the back in places was not attractive. The only hand sewing on my quilts is a blanket stitch with embroidery thread around the label.

You are not alone...I only do my binding with the machine. I stitch the folded strip to the front of the quilt , fold it over and stitch in the ditch. My binding comes out neat every time. Figured since I was not in a show, I would leave the hand binding to those who enjoy it! Guess I am a weirdo, too!

I'm a weirdo to - and proud of it! Just as I wouldn't skydive - because why would I jump out of a perfectly good airplane, so too, I don't hand stitch when there is a perfectly good machine around to do it!! I brag to my friends that I don't even sew on buttons by hand - I use my machine. The only time I have a needle and thread out is to stitch on a label - and even that I fuse on first. Blame it on eyesight, arthritis, laziness, what ever turns your crank. I just like power tools lol!

As you can see, you are not alone. I also do my binding by machine. The reason I have a machine is to do everything with it, and nothing by hand.

I don't do anything by hand that I can avoid. That's why I bought a sewing machine. LOL If that's weird then so be it. However, I do love the look of hand quilting but it's just not for me. I think everyone should do which ever method they enjoy. Life is just too short to worry about rude comments from a stranger.

Do what makes YOU happy!!

i do it all by machine. i admire those who do handwork. not for me. My mother told me once I dont quilt. well, my top is #98, I must do something. Handworkers are dedicated and patient. Patience is not one of my virtues.

I do all my binding by machine, I usually use a decorative stitch and I like the look of it and I agree that I think it holds better.

I like both handwork and machine work. Its not the technique but the quality that draws me in. I've seen good and bad in both. Kudos to those who do the hand work and can make it look lovely. Each has its own skill and not everyone can do both. Appreciating skill rather than technique is hard for some to overcome. And I think she might have been moving on to the next cutstomer whom she might be able to sell her product. I wish I could get my machine sewn bindings to look good, so I continue to do it by hand if I want a nicer finish. Not that I like hand work, its sometimes just necessary.

I like both, but you should do what makes you happy!

I am a newbie quilter and I do not have any intentions of sewing anything by hand. Relaxing??? Absolutely not, I am a mom, military wife, cook and everything else that goes along with being a SAHM. The last thing I want is unfinished quilts laying around my house b/c I don't have time to hand bind my quilt. This hobby is about enjoying yourself and when you worry about what others think then it no longer becomes fun!! Enjoy, have fun and keep machine sewing your binding.:thumbup:

I do most by machine as well as I feel that it's going to last a lot longer through machine washing. I also crochet and knit but that's a different kind of handwork and it doesn't count!!

I do as much as I can by machine as well....I do a lot of applique', all by machine, even if it is a pattern for needle turned applique' ( I am working on "Affairs of the Heart" pattern now and it is all needle turned..I will be doing all machine applique' on it)...I also crochet and do counted cross stitch.
I think if you like to do all the handwork, more power to you...it's just not my thing.
AND, yes, there are quilting/sewing/crafting snobs out there. I have met a few of them myself.

I don't like to handset anything. If I can do it by machine, then I will. That said, I do hand baste some of my smaller quilts using the boards and pearl cotton. I'm always stabbing myself. I used to cross stitch and I crochet and knit some. I know quite a few people that hand sew their bindings and that's ok too. We are a diverse group of people, us quilters, and that's good. If everyone was like me, there wouldn't be many complicated or appliqued quilts around!! Ha ha

Ok auto correct- I meant hand sew in the first statement. :)

MaryLane.... I agree with you! I do do some hand stitching on some very special quilts, but I have a machine to make life easier and that is what I use it for :).... Sorry you ran into the QP snobs. Why is it that no matter what you do there is somebody out there that thinks that it is wrong just because it is different then what they do or like?

I do both machine and hand bindings. It just depends on the quilt and what it is being used for. I think both are good.

Hand sewing is for those the really like doing it. I don't think it should be considered the correct way for binding as most all the 'experts' want to enforce. I think it's time most 'experts' start thinking about retiring.

And I'm the opposite. Didn't even blink when faced with hand stitching a binding for a 96" x 96" quilt last June-----------will be doing the same shortly for our church raffle. (I'm slow!)

Thank heavens, there is a place for each of us!

I do as much as I can by machine too. They way I look at it is..Its my art and my quilt. I'll do what I want when I want to get the project done. I don't care what anyone else thinks. =)