Trimming down binding and backing
 

Between the time I quilt my quilt and I sew on the binding I have always trimmed down the batting and backing to equal the size of the quilt. Last night as I was looking through a Fons and Porter book I saw that they trim it down after stitching the binding in place. I never even thought of doing it this way. At what point do you trim down? Is there an advantage to doing it one way or the other?

I trim first. I don't see any benefit to having the extra bulk of batting and backing while I machine sew the binding to the front.

I trim first as I take it off the long arm.

I square the quilt up by marking with a pen. I sew the binding on with 1\4 inch seam using my marks as a guide. Then I trim with the ruler at 1/2 inch on the seam line. That way I get a nice full binding when I ladder stitch the binding on the back.

I sew first and then trim. I am always afraid I will get a piece of the backing missed if I don’t have that extra to keep an eye on it

A trim and sew on binding girl here too. Then I know it is square.

I have asked before how it works to sew a binding on before trimming. I don’t understand the purpose or the process. Can someone explain or provide a link explaining the hows and whys of this?

I trim, then sew on bindinh.

I would assume that it is as simple as lining up the cut edge of the folded binding with the edge of the quilt border. If the border is pieced, it may be that there will be little room to square up even if it might be helpful. Can’t help with the why, as I trim before adding the binding.

I don’t have a link so I’ll try to explain how and why I trim after sewing the binding on. I start with binding that is 2.5 inches , then folded, square the quilt by marking with a pen instead of trimming, sew the binding on with a 1/4 inch seam. When I trim I leave 1/4 inch of batting and backing by putting the ruler at 1/2inch mark on the stitching line. The purpose is to get a full binding. I don’t know how that would happen if the quilt is trimmed before the binding is sewn on. I suppose it would work with a narrower binding but I like the 2.5 inch because I can use leftover binding cut into 2.5 inch squares for scrappy quilts.

Honestly I've only found it necessary when I'm working on a quilt with a scalloped binding. Otherwise I square up first, then apply binding. I've also found that if I do NOT press the binding in half lengthwise before sewing it on, it's always nice and full, regardless of whether it's a narrow 2" or 2 1/4" or a wide 3" binding.

Usually, I use the top layer as the binding. Fold it back 1 inch, and trim the batting and backing. So yeah, I trim before binding.

I'm a trim and sew. I don't need the extra under my binding as I apply it snug on the trimmed squared edge. When I put my binding on, I don't want extra steps. I also like my binding already folded and ironed. I cut my binding strip at 2.5" and then fold it and Iron it in half. Sew it on, flip and sew the other side! It is the last hurrah of finishing. I also do the same with a scalloped edge.

I sew binding on, then trim.

I trim first because I sew binding on the back first then machine the front

I am going to try this on my current quilt project. I usually trim first but this sounds interesting. Thanks for the instructions!

I don't mark as my-ty does but I do trim before sewing on binding as I usually have quite the excess of backing/batting after sandwiching. I place my ruler 1/4" from edge of quilt and trim batting to that size then sew on binding. I use a 2.25" binding. I also learned it's much easier to not iron the binding in half. Line up the cut edge of my folding binding to the edge of the quilt and sew onto the front of the quilt. I then hand stitch to the back.

I trim the back and batting down to about 1.5" before adding the binding. It reduces the bulk and gives the feed dogs material to grip when sewing the binding on. If the back and batting are cut right to the edge of the quilt there is no fabric on the right side to balance the pull of the feed dogs, at least on my machine. Trim to the edge after the binding is attached.

This is what I do as well.

I also use this method, not sure when I heard about it , but I find the binding rolls over to the back so easy also l like a full snug binding. 😊

Judy in Phx