I am thinking of doing some like to with some placemats I am making for charity. I think using a decorative stitch looks much better than trying to sew straight on all that bulk.

Wow! What a wealth of information. I now have to go and check out Quick Machine Binding With Flange and other options along with getting some Elmer's glue. I'm so glad I asked the question because the hand stitching was creating real problems. I became a machine quilter because I had to give up needle work because of bad hands. But I found something I love better.

Okay, so I've done the binding. I decided to use a combination of clips and pins instead of Elmer's glue. Generally, I was happy with the result. My corners improved as I went (first one was awful). I was generally happy for a first try and this will be one skill I will look forward to improving.

I'll try to post a photo tomorrow.
Thanks for all the hints.

Mchin binding is my preferred method these days. Quicker.

sandy

Just discovered an amazing way to do it, from Nancy's Notions serger techniques book. First, trim the edge of the quilt layers to even things up, then use fusible thread in the lower looper, and sew the binding to the edge of the quilt, raw edges together, binding on the top. When you fold the binding over to the other side, gently iron it down on that side of the quilt. Voila! No pins, no basting, and best of all, no moving! I attach all this with the back of the quilt up, then fold to the front so I can see where I am going to stitch. I use some sort of a "bridging stitch" that sews into both the binding and quilt on the front side. If you don't have a serger, I think you could still do the same thing, with a zig zag stitch, and fusible hand-wound onto your bobbin. Corners are no problem. Sew to 1/4" of the corner, loosen needle threads, wiggle it off the loopers, do the usual 45-degree folding technique, turn the quilt, and sew the next side. I will never return to the old way. This was so quick, reliable, and effective on the entire queen size quilt I just finished.

I cut my bindings about 2 1/2" wide and machine them to the back first. When I fold over to the front side, there is usually a wider (nicer?) amount of fabric showing. I stitch as close to the folded edge as possible. My quilts are certainly far from "show" quilts, and I find that machine stitching keeps everything together better. Those who have my quilts -- and there aren't many at this point -- can throw them on the floor or snuggle under them without fear of the quilt's coming apart [I hope!].

This is also how I do it, no body has ever returned a quilt. I have arthritis & carpal tunnel (actually that is doing great after surgery) so I try to avoid anything that causes hand pain & more damage to these old hands. One quilt police woman commented once that I should only hand sew the bindings but I wonder if she'll be saying that in 30 years when she becomes my age.

Go online and view Eleanor Burns about sewing binding, she sews it on the machine. And she is a famous quilter.

I machine sew to the front and hand stitch to the back ONLY because I make a BIG mess by Machine

Why do you live with bad carpal tunnel pain? The surgery to fix it is fast, easy and, for me anyway, painless. I encourage you to look into it having it repaired. You may not be aware, but at some point it will be beyond repair and could cause very serious problems in the future.