Mitered binding corners
 

I use 2 1/2 inch binding strip and sew to the front with 1/4inch seam, all with no problem, however when I hand stitch the binding to the back my corners never seem to fold nice and neat and look like they fit properly. What do you do with the fabric that is in the corner do you clip it ? because it seems bulky in the corner.

I used to clip the corner. after washing, it looked 'wimpy'. after lots of careful folding, the corners look better. it took me lots of practice to get it looking right.

You might check out this Sharon Schamber binding video. Her directions for the corners have worked great for me. If you clip the quilt in the corner, it seems to me you'd have empty binding in that area, which you don't want. When I've had problems with the miters not lining up neatly, it's been because my seam allowance there was a little too wide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2hWQ5-ZccE

I fold the "dart/miter" one way on the top and the "dart/miter" the other way on the back.

(Or vice-versa) - so the bulk is distributed more evenly on the corner. There is still a bit of a bump/bulge on the corner, but less than if both "darts" are folded the same way.

I trim very little out of the corner and only if necessary. I may take a layer or two partially off, but never cutting off a triangle from all of the layers together.

I have had good luck with just cutting the batting/backing section of the mitered corner by just cutting off a "nip" to get the corner just right with the addition binding fabric adding more fabric in the corner. I have sewn all my binding by hand and that works very well.

I don't snip the corner. I tried it a couple of times and found that it the binding did not lay as nice and wasn't as full as the rest of the binding.

Another thought - don't press your binding in half before sewing it to your quilt. It will be much easier to manipulate the fabric in the mitered corners if it doesn't have a memory pressed into it.

this was a great video. Thank you so so much

I have found greater success when I have prepared carefully for the binding. First of all, the corners must be trimmed straight-right angles measured with a square ruler. Then when I sew on the binding I measure as I come into the corner. At 1/4 inch I pivot the machine and stitch off at a 45 degree angle. Take it out of the machine. Fold the binding strip up straight (180 degrees) fold it down onto the quilt. The fold must be even with the edge of the quilt. Start stitching at the edge of the quilt and continue to the next corner. Then, I press the b inding away from the quilt and make sure to press into the corners. Turn the binding and stitch down. I find the corners miter easily because of that understitching at 45 degrees. I do this method whether I stitch the binding on the back and finish to the front by machine or stitch the binding on the front and hand stitch to finish on the back.

The only comment I have to add -

I usually make bindings that finish wider than 1/4 inch - so I do my pivot at my finished binding width - which in my case is about 3/8 inches. Yes - 1/8 of an inch does matter.

I do this like Patrick Lose. Watch this video and it is around 7:25 or so.
I also do the binding one way on front and the other way on the back to avoid the 'pig nose'
http://www.freequiltpatterns.info/vi...trick-lose.htm

I thought this was interesting: http://blog.shopmartingale.com/quilt...ing-on-quilts/

I find that if I'm careful when I fold the binding up and back down at that 45degree angle it's important to make sure that the edges match up--in other words, that the binding is not skewed when I fold it back down for the miter. Also, I don't sew off the binding onto the extra smidgen of bat that I leave to fill the binding. then I make sure to fold it like Bearsgray explains.

I, too, found that if I am more careful when sewing the corner on, it miters better when I get to the hand sewing. I used to stop at 1/4 inch, now I make sure to stop according to the seam allowance I am using on that particular binding. Bearisgray is so right.....1/8 inch matters! And I err on the side of a stitch too short, NEVER go past the allowance.

I fold the miter both ways to try it out. One way will always lay flatter than the other. Sometimes it is opposite from the top miter...and sometimes not!

I watched the Patrick lose video and I think I will give it a try. I like that he snips that little corner, makes sense to me.

Jenny Doan, Missouri Star Quilt Company, has a very good video on YouTube on binding, The Ultimate Quilt Binding Tutorial. Check it out. I've found it to work perfectly.

I clip the corner like Patrick Lose suggests and it makes a difference.

I find that most problems with good mitre corners is the seam width doesn't remain constantly to the place where you stop. The feeddogs tend to pull the quilt about the last 1/2" or so making the seam narrower. There is an interesting video, I believe, at the McCalls web site where Patrick Loose shows a place at the corner where he trims. I don't have the site but you might be able to search his name. It may be Lose. With a binding cut at 2.5" I use a 3/8" seam. It tends to fold over better. I use a lot of borders on my quilts so I can do more than 1/4" seam.

Most times I can make perfect mitered corners. Being careful is very important. I have tried the cutting off of the corners and it did not work for me. I have better results if I run off at a 45 degree angle at the corners. I now only machine sew my bindings on.

If you use 3/8 seam do you stitch to 3/8 from end when making your turn instead o 1/4 inch?

Yes.

If using 1/2 inch seam, one would stop 1/2 inch from the end.

I get really annoyed at all the binding instructions that say to stop stitching 1/4 inch from the end. That ONLY works if one is stitching a 1/4 inch seam.

The distance to stop from the end - is the width of the seam allowance for that first stitching.

As Peckish and others have said -

We have better results when we ONLY fold our bindings in half - we do NOT press them in half - that pressed line is NOT helpful when it comes to the turns - because the pressed in fold line is not where the fabric wants to go naturally.

The outer layer of the binding has to go a longer distance than the inner layer of the binding. Every time the binding is turned, the "fold line" is moved over a little bit.

I also baste the raw edges of my bindings together before applying them. It eliminates shifting of the binding edges - especially when using bias binding -so it turns over smoothly.

Patrick Loose or Lose, not sure of the spelling, has a great tutorial on binding.. So does Jenny Doan on Missouri Star Quilt Co.. I would not snip the corners, if the binding is folded correctly you will have some bulk but not too much..

This is what I do on all my quilts now and I like the results this gives.

Watch Patrick's video. It is the little triangle folded in the mitre fabric that he cuts. It reduces the bulk yet leaves the corner layers intact.