You'd think it would be easier to make a potholder but it's not. Takes
practice to get it right.

I watched the same as you did, I followed her exact instructions, I have a problem with the corners, I will work on that though, but she said when you sew the binding on from the front to follow the same stitching from the back side, if that makes sence, I did that and my stitching landed on the binding on the back side, I would send a pic but the quilt is dark so would be hard to see....

I used 2 1/2" binding and am new to this, but by doing it the way Leah Day explains does not leave the binding "full"...

I fold mine in half, then turn each edge end & fold it again. I have also pinned front & back edges through the quilted project, then sewn it. Play around with it a little, & see what works for you...

It looks like you have tension problems. The top tension is too loose, so the bobbin is pulling too much thread.

The 'formula' for binding width is - cut it 6 x the width of the seam + the thickness of the quilt. So, if you'll be sewing it 1/4", 1/4 x 6 = 6/4. Now add the thickness of the quilt (because it has to fold around the quilt at the edge), probably another 1/4" = 7/4 = 1 3/4". When you sew the binding on either the front or back of the quilt, it should fold to the other side and just meet the stitching line. You can 'stretch' it to cover the line, especially if you use Sharon Schamber's school glue method.

I saw a tutorial somewhere where the binding is wider in the back. She just put the binding on, narrow side in front, and wider in the back and just stitched it down once. Don't know if this helps. :-o

OK I have the Chaud potholder in hand and re-examining it, because it was done in class and was done as per instructions step by step. After looking at it closely (it was done over a year ago) I forgot but we sewed the binding in a regular stitch to the back, right sides together producing a seam. Then folded it over and top-seamed it down with another regular stitch. The decorative stitch was added "after the fact" as just a finished look.

The Heiss potholder is in a cabin out of town so I can't check it out but I did get out the printed instructions for it was done several months down the road.

I guess I commit mortal sin when I make potholders - I don't put a binding on! I pillowcase them - after the top is pieced, I lay the top and backing on top of each other right sides together, put the batting on top (or bottom) and stitch all around the edges, leaving a small space open. Turn the whole thing right side out through the opening, turn in the raw edges of the opening and top-stitch all around the potholder, catching in the opening. Then I quilt it up to the top-stitching line. If I want a hanging loop, I just use a piece of purchased bias tape, folded into a loop, inserted into a corner between the top and the backing before stitching all around. When you turn the potholder right side out, the loop just pops right out.

Another way to avoid the binding is to put your quilt sandwich together as usual (use muslin or some scrap fabric as backing because you won't see it), quilt as usual, then prepare a final backing just like you were making the back of a pillow sham. Sew the pillow-sham backing to the potholder right sides together, turn it right-side out and it's done.

I hope this is all understandable!

My advice....cut your strips smaller (I use 2" strips sometimes even 1.75" strips) or use a larger seam allowance when you are attaching the binding before folding it over!

An easy way to determain how wide to cut your strips is to take a scrap of fabric pin it where your .25 seam allowance would normally go and then fold it over to the back (or front whichever way) and then cover the stitches by about 1/8 inch. then put a little pin in that spot. remove the pins and measure from the edge to where you put the second pin. then DOUBLE that measurment. that is how wide to cut your strips and not have a bunch of space between your stitching and your binding!

That's why I always finish by hand :-D

2.5" binding is fairly standard. How full the binding is with this width depends largely on your batting (actually, on the thickness of your quilt sandwich). If you used 2.5" and the binding was not full, then next time you need to cut the binding strips more narrow. It takes some experimentation to determine how wide to cut binding strips based on your personal preferences for batting.

A different way to make the binding full is to cut the quilt sandwich more than 1/4" beyond the sewing line. This is why I do not first cut my quilt sandwich and then sew on the binding. Instead, I mark the cutting line with a Sharpie permanent marker and use this as my guide to sew on binding. If I think I need more than 1/4" to "fill" the binding, then I can cut beyond the Sharpie line to fill up the binding better.