I personally machine sew to the front; fold over and hand sew to the back. That said...there are some charity organizations that I've contributed to that require 100% machine work. I think most people's issue with 100% machine sewn bindings is that they have a tendency to not lay 'flat'. I've had that issue myself. I think the trick is, if you have deco stitches on your machine, do the straight stitch on the back of the quilt; fold over to the front and find an appropriate deco stitch that will have the front of your binding lay 'flat' - if that's what you want. Be it a plain zig zag or something else. Personal opinion is that those folks that are unhappy with 100% machine sewn bindings is because the machined edge is just not as 'flat' as a traditional hand sewn binding. Just my opinion.

My machine binding lays as flat as hand sewn. The only difference is the line of stitching on the edge of the binding on the back. I've done Charisma's flanged one on a special quilt, but I wouldn't want to take the time on every quilt, nor would I recommend it for a first timer.

I love doing the binding on my quilts! Always machine stitch it to the front and hand stitch it to the back. The hand stitching is my favorite part.

This is also my preferred method.

Thanks for all the advice. I guess I could have googled it but I do love hearing the advice and opinions of others in real time. This thread has been very helpful more so than that would have been I think. I will check out the tutorials!