If its not straight, why don't you try a decorative stitch, someone posted on here recently with one done that way and it looked really nice, I was thinking of trying it on a quilt

If I am understanding correctly, you are sewing to the back first. Your problem is getting a good line on the front?

One thing I do is not cut the quilt first. Instead of cutting, I *mark* the cutting line on the quilt with a Sharpie permanent marker. If my marking is on the top, I then machine stitch using the longest stitch on the cutting line, using a contrasting thread in the bobbin so I can see this mark on the back of the quilt sandwich.

I do not iron the binding in half. It actually rolls better for the last step if I don't iron it in half. How wide do you cut your binding strips? I think it is easier to get narrower binding even. If using Warm and Natural, I cut strips 2.25" wide and use a 3/8" seam allowance. (Next one I try is going to be strips 2" wide and a 1/4" seam allowance.) With wide binding, the eye is going to notice variations more easily, I think.

I sew the binding to the back as usual, matching the cut edges of the binding to the marking. This way I don't have to worry about edges turning under on me or stretching out of shape as I sew. I sew with the binding on top and pull it nice and taut as I sew it to the quilt. With this method, I also do not have to use a walking foot (at least on my machine). Only after sewing do I cut the quilt sandwich right on the marked line.

Next step is to go to the ironing board, place the quilt backing on top, and *carefully* iron the binding away from the quilt body. I do not iron it so much that the binding fold gets ironed. This helps keep the binding even and makes it easier to turn. (Edit: I do think this is a very important step for me. Once I added this, my bindings started looking a lot better. Plus they were easier to fold over.)

I pretty much glue baste only the mitered corners, although occasionally I will glue baste all of the binding. I fold the binding over until the fold just barely covers the seam line and iron in place. (If something doesn't look right, I will lift the binding up and re-do it. If it doesn't come apart easily, a little water will soften the glue.)

Finally, the piece de resistance for hiding any little inconsistencies. I use a decorative stitch on the right side. One of the easiest to use is a serpentine stitch (on most machines, and looks like a large S). The serpentine goes both on and off the binding. A simple zigzag can look really nice too. The most difficult for getting binding to look nice, in my opinion, is a straight stitch.

One thing I am wondering is if your quilt edges are straight when you sew on the binding. I use a large metal T-square when marking to make sure that my corners are square and the quilt edge markings are straight. If you are cutting the edge first, then sewing on binding with a 1/4" seam (and especially if you are doing it without using a walking foot), there is a lot more opportunity to sew in distortions that will affect how the binding lays on the front.

Pretty much like Prism wrote. I iron the binding once it is sewn on the back of the quilt so it lays out flat away from the quilt. Then I turn the quilt over and iron the binding toward the front. With the ironing I can see that I do go over the sewing line from where I sewed the binding to the back.

I have used school glue to then keep the binding in place while I use a fancy stitch - usually what I call chicken feet - to sew the binding down on the front of the quilt.

A friend of mine taught me to use a wave looking stitch which can usually be achieved by stretching out your zigzag stitch if you don't have a decorative wave stitch on your machine. To stretch out the zigzag stitch try lengthing the stitch width and length dials. Practice on a piece of test fabric first to make sure it looks right. I use this type of stitch on the majority of my quilt bindings. Its fast and very forgiving. No worries about sewing in a straight line for the most part!

how would I find that Tut what is it under. Thanks for your help

I use the red clips and my fingernail to quide my sewing on top of the stitch line. Can only do an inch at a time but refuse to hand sew.

I always put my binding on by machine and it looks great. If possible, I try to use the same fabric for the back and binding so you don't see the sewing line on the back if its not lined up perfectly. First square up your quilt. Then iron a 2 1/2" strip in half, right sides out. Sew the binding on the back, your sewing line should be 1/3 of the binding away from the edge. I always check my corners before I continue to sew on the front. Iron the binding out, fold over and sew on the front. It works perfectly and saves on the hands. Very easy and fast.

I have never understood how you could sew to the back of the sandwiched quilt without trimming first, because how can you tell where the edge of the top is? But if you trim, and things shift, you could have a mess on your hands.

I recently saw a blog where a woman stitched all the way around the edges of her sandwiched quilt, less that a quarter inch. Then she trimmed, then sewed to the back, then pulled around to the front and stitched.

I have to say, it looked like it worked, made the edges flat and straight. But man -- sewing three times around the whole quilt? It's still worky, in my book!

I do all of mine from back to front on my DSM. I have gotten very good at it. I have found that using the tip of the seam ripper to press down all the layers as I sew gives it a nicer look. 99% of my corners come out perfectly mitered. I only use 2 straight pins when I'm starting. No clamps , glue or prebasting. I have come to like binding.

I use a permanent Sharpie to mark the cutting line all around the quilt. This becomes a "virtual" cutting line in that I act as if the quilt were already cut along that line. If I need to mark on the front of the quilt instead of the back, I machine baste on that marked line so that I have a "virtual" cut line on the back too. The machine basting stitch goes really fast because I just feed the marked line into the presser foot.