Learned a new trick!
 

This is probably not new to the rest of you, but I have recently bound several quilts in a row for a friend. I machine sew mine to the back, then hand stitch to the front, but in the interest of time, I did these entirely by machine. After struggling to fold over the binding to stitch it in place, I thought about ironing it first. What a difference! Now, after applying the binding to the back, I iron it along the seam, then fold it over and iron the fold into it. Much less resistance for the final decorative sewing. Just thought I'd share.

Thank you for a valuable tip! Some quilts are just right for having the binding done entirely by machine.

I would not iron the binding. I use poly batting and afraid it might not work out so well. I also hand sew the binding to the back, I like that look much better.

thanks for sharing your tip

I fold and iron mine in half.then sew to the back with a quarter inch seam,then fold to the front and miter the corners.I can not hand stitch as many items as I make and keep up-2 carpal tunnels operations and machine sewing is better for my hands too.

Try elmer's glue with the pressing - a small bead works great!

I just did this on two quilts and loved it. I was able to sew the binding by hand in far less time. I usually pinned my binding downand then sit with Dh and watch tv,but poke myself with the pins way too much. Be careful not to use too much glue or it is harder to get the needle through!

I sew binding from back to front too. I have started to use the knife edge binding on my quilts. Many old quilts has this binding.

BellaBoo,
What do you mean by "knife edge"? Can you give us a pic?

Jan in VA

When I was at Quilt Extravaganza (Mancuso's show) I saw alot of the art quilts with a knife edge binding. I thought they were birthed at first (which doesn't make sense since they were all heavily quilted) and I took many pictures of them. I never knew what the technique was called. The effect that this type of binding has on the quilts was stunning. I am definitely planning on trying it sometime.

This is a great example of a knife edge binding:

http://thegirlwhoquilts.blogspot.com...christmas.html