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I almost always use 2 1/2 inch strips. Once in awhile I have used 3 inches if I want a larger binding or if I have an unusually thick quilt. I think it really depends on what you like.

2.5 for me-I do not hand sew the back.

I use 3" most of the time unless the batting is very thin.

Started with 2 1/2" and found that was unnecessary so then i went to 2 1/4. Now I am beginninng to think that one over. Seems to me that 2" would be adequate but will have to try it before I recommend it. Betsy

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghostrider (Post 5997547)

I can't speak for anyone else, but I always use a ¼" seam no matter what the width of the binding strip...even my 3" ones.

The difference is in how wide the quilt sandwich is trimmed after the binding is sewn on and before it's turned to the back. If you trim it to the finishing width of the binding, it all lines up perfectly and winds up nice and full. Using a wider seam can adversely affect the design on the quilt top (points especially would get chopped off).

This seems to solve the problem I always have of the binding not being the same width on the back as the front, but it never occurred to me to trim the quilt after the binding was attached, and I can't imagine doing that on most designs other than a whole cloth quilt - which I've never made - and (yeah!) any quilt with a wide, non-pieced border. It would add an extra step because I would have to trim before adding the binding to make sure everything is square, and to give an edge to line up with the binding. Still, your approach is intriguing, and I'm going to be trying it sometime soon. Do you really mean cutting to the same exact width as the finished binding? I'm worried about the thickness of the quilt not being taken into account. I will have to do some test pieces.

I have recently gone to using 2 1/4" bindings because I like the slightly narrower width, but I preferred having the 2 1/2" scraps when I used that size, and this approach could solve that problem. Thanks, ghostrider!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rose_P (Post 6004403)

It would add an extra step because I would have to trim before adding the binding to make sure everything is square, and to give an edge to line up with the binding. Still, your approach is intriguing, and I'm going to be trying it sometime soon. Do you really mean cutting to the same exact width as the finished binding? I'm worried about the thickness of the quilt not being taken into account. I will have to do some test pieces.

What I have done instead of trimming is *mark* the cutting edge with a permanent Sharpie. This is how I square up the quilt, and the line becomes a "virtual" cutting line for lining up the raw edges of the binding. I then trim the quilt to the binding edge after the binding is sewn on.

Sometimes I machine baste just inside the drawn line, then trim to the line before sewing on the binding.

I've settled in on 2.5" for machine sewn binding and 2.25" for hand sewn binding.

I've only done 2-1/2" but after reading many posts here, I think I will try 2-1/4" on my next quilt. It goes on the long arm machine next Friday.