I wish I had read this before attempting to bind my first ever quilt. I'm going to have to check out that Feather stitch and see if my Brother's machine has it. I was going to try hand sewing my binding because I was afraid my stitches would show but that wasn't working out too well so I ended up doing a basic stitch.

this is the way i do it also. and like quiltsrfun, i don't stress over the stitching line on the back

asheryl, I find it helps to glue baste the binding in place before sewing. Best method I have found is, after sewing binding to back, iron the binding to secure the fold from the stitching line. Turn to front, and use small dots of Elmer's white washable school glue (and my iron) to match up the binding fold to the stitching line that shows on the front. This makes sewing the decorative stitch much easier because I do not need to be wrestling the binding. A decorative stitch sews out more slowly and uses more thread than a straight stitch, but doing it this way makes that last binding step relatively relaxing and quite gratifying.

If you can't find a feather stitch, look for another decorative stitch that doesn't have the straight line in the center. Unfortunately, my Bernina does not have any kind of stitch like that. Many of the newer machines (my machine is about 20 years old) do have that kind of stitch. Hence, my lust for the Brother.

I sew to the front then hand stitch down on the back

Thanks for the great replies. :-) What I need to perfect if I sew to the back and pull to the front are mitered corners. When I sew on top and hand stitch, my corners on top look amazing every single time, but the ones on the back don't always miter so nicely. I do every single step I've seen in every video--but still most don't miter. Since they've always been on the back, I've accepted them as is for years, but if they are on the front, I need to adjust. A quilter on fb said I need to "jiggle" them to a miter. lol I just finished five bindings today--so next project I'll try this jiggle. :-) This is how mine come out... I'm going to add some hand stitches to every corner because I like them secured to the point.
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If you enter things into Quilt shows, here in Canada, your work will be automatically disqualified if you machine finish the binding.

I do it this way also. Seems to work perfect for me.

I usually use a vine stitch in which the "vine" meanders back and forth and has small open leaves on each side. This works for most quilts but not so much for male quilts, so I use another decorative stitch. You do have to be careful which stitch you pick as some can use much more thread(and time) to stitch. I do use some that have a straight stitch between the decorative element, such as a star, but find the stars distract your view from the straight line between them.

I sew back first and then top stitch the binding down on the top.

I do press/iron the seam line on the back and then press the binding flat. I DO use bias binding and I DO baste the edges together before sewing it to the quilt sandwich. I DO NOT press the binding in half before sewing it to the quilt.

I use a wider binding that many people do. I think I cut it at 2-7/8 inches. Then I use the leftmost setting on my machine when I do the first stitching of the binding.

I also hand-stitch the miters (front and back) when I'm done sewing the binding to the front.

It also lessens the bulk if I turn the fold "towards the left" on one side and "towards the right" on the other side.

I attach to the back, fold to the front, then machine sew down with a bobbin thread that matches the backing. Sometimes I will use a more decorative stitch like a shallow, narrow serpentine.