I'm just curious here to know, how many people bind their quilt before quilting it, and how many people quilt it, then square it up and bind it??

I quilt, square up, then bind. I find that the quilting will often distort it a bit.

I agree, especially if it is quilted heavily

ditto

always do binding last.

Me too. I think if you did the binding and then tried to quilt the fabric would shift leaving you with a bump. Not sure how it would work with hand quilting.

Same here.

I can tell you that with my first 2 quilts I didn't know better. So I put on a very nice binding and then machine quilted them. What a pain they were to try to keep flat and lump-free and I did not succeed although the recipients loved them anyway. Now I know better, I quilt, square and bind. Saves lots of headaches and stress that way for me.

I quilt, then square and then bind!!

I always do the binding last.
:)

Same with me. Quilt, square up, and bind.

you always quilt, square up, and then bind

I discovered it lays flatter for me if I quilt first then bind. I always get a wobble otherwise.

I agree with most of these folks.....quilt, square up and then bind last.

I always quilt, square up and then bind. There are less problems that way.

I always do the binding last.

exactly the way i do it..
didn't know people would bind then quilt? i would think it would bunch up around the ends near the binding..

I always bind last.

Same here....quilt, square up and bind.

Made the mistake on one of my first quilts of binding first. Never again. Too wavy.
Now it's quilting, squaring and then binding.

quilt, square it up and lastly bind.

Quilt, then bind.

The lady who does my machine quilting likes her customers to sew the binding to the right side, leaving the corners open and she machine quilts right to the binding. And they always are square when the binding is turned and completed.

I quilt and then bind. But I would like to know the way you square up a quilt. I always get critized for not having a square quilt. Is there a web site to explain?

Quilt, square up and bind..... then label - don't forget the label.

Okay I have never labeled..considering it though....I have also never binded it then quilted it, but I am considering it..just not sure how it will turn out. I square my quilt up by measuring it through the middle, side to side, then up and down..and then measure along the edges at the sides to make sure it is even. I may not be doing it right thou.
I am having a hard time getting the backing to lay perfectly flat while machine quilting it...I don't have a huge table and my baby lock is not a big machine...and I don't like puckers..or "kisses" in my fabric..so I am trying to figure out a new way to do things.

I have only done that one time. I had already put an outline in my card trick and then added spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds after the binding. I would worry about the quilt getting lumpy on the back.

I quilt, square up, then bind

This is how I sandwich my quilts. I use those big office clips to secure the backing and batting on the table, then smooth the quilt top. Pin with safety pins. I used to do this on the floor with tape, but it was a disaster trying to get up off the floor. I'm not liking this getting 'old' thing! LOL.

Hope this helps.

Charity Quilter Dar.

I hand quilt and always quilt before binding.

I do the same, with hand quilting I bind last also. While it's not as tight as machine quilting the batting can still shift with quilting and moving of my lap frame.

I bind the quilt top before quilting....so much easier. Of course, you can't do this if it is going to a long arm quilter, because they want to quilt off the edge. Back in the 90's. when I was a new quilter, I read an article about binding the top first, tried it, and have been doing it ever since. Also do this on placemats, table runners, etc.

Sue

Same here I always quilt, square up and then bind. There are less problems that way.

always bind last

I have been know to bind first then quilt by hand. Don't think it would work well at all for machine quilting. Two that I have done that way were actually finished and tied, but I decided I would like to have them hand quilted. The third one hasn't been quilted yet, but I wanted to use it on our bed and just quilt it as I have time and be able to throw it back on the bed. Unless there is a specific reason to put the binding on first, I think it's advisaable to quilt first.

I took a class at Road2CA in January, the instructor sews the binding on the top before she quilts and it actually keeps the edges from fraying, but she does not hand stitch it to the back until the quilt is completely quilted. Her name is Jean Brown and she uses the Aunt Becky tool for hand quilting, she is great and her work is beautiful, she has a web site.http://jeansimpressions.com/

Thank you! I think next one I do, I am going to try stitching the binding on the front and then quilting it, just to see how it works out..It might be a mess..but I guess it wont know till I give it a try.