What is your choice??
 

I have a friend that does beautiful quilts, when she is done with the quilting and trims the leftover batting and material she just runs it through the serger. Then sews the binding in the traditional way. When she's done her quilts always look great.

When I am ready to bind, I sew the binding on the front, trim the leftovers by hand, then finish the back by hand.

How do you do it? Do you like your binding full or a little flatter?

Before quilting, I secure the outer edge of the quilt with a machine basting stitch. I trim before sewing on the binding to be sure everything is straight and square. If the trimming cuts off some (or all) of my basting stitch, I re-secure those areas to make it lie flat and help the binding go on smoothly.

If I plan to secure the binding by hand, I sew it to the front, fold to the back and finish by hand. On kids' quilts or something that will receive a lot of wear and tear, I sew the binding to the back, fold to the front, then machine stitch it down on the front with a decorative stitch...usually a serpentine stitch.

I like my batting full.

Anita

I trim and then sew a 1/4" zig zag around the quilt edge before sewing on the binding. This gives me a guide on both sides. I don't care if it's turned to the back or front. I do it both ways. I finish by hand sewing the binding.

Since all my quilts are for charity, I need to finish everything on the machine. So I sew the binding on to the back side first and then roll it to the front side and sew on the edge. The back side will show the stitches away from the fold, put if you're careful you can get it pretty close....

I add a binding to all my quilts, but all are machine sewn. Sometimes I bring the binding final edge to the front sometimes to the back , just depends on my mood. As for the fullness of the binding , I don't want the binding to be thicker or thinner than the body of the quilt. If a thick "binding" edge is desired I use piping and not a true binding.

I'm still getting the hang of binding. I do a wierd version of what it's supposed to be lol. I like to sew it to the front but I don't stop and start the mitered corners like it says I sew over it! then the entire binding is on the back and I stitch it down. Wierd I know but I think it looks neat. One of these days I'm going to have to start doing it right ;)

I always block my quilts when they are quilted. Then I sew the binding on the back, 1/4". I turn it to the front and machine sew it. I've never basted the edges. I never thought of that. I usually sew the binding that is folded before I sew it on my quilt so it won't move when I sew it down. That really helps. I sew 1/8" from the edge. I learned that trick a while back and it really helps. (I have over 5 quilts waiting for me to bind them, so I shouldn't be talking. I don't enjoy binding)

I do mine the same way you do yours (& as I've said numerous times in my posts, hand sewing the binding is my favorite part). Well, maybe I do mine slightly different. After I machine sew the binding to the front, I fold it over to the back & baste it. Then I hand blind stitch it down.

As for fat or flat, I like mine more on the full side. I don't like "empty" binding.

I baste my edges on the LA as I quilt. When I'm done, I cut off the excess batting and backing and make sure the quilt is square, trimming a little extra if slightly off, then sew binding to the front, mitering the corners. Then I flip it to the back and sew it by hand to finish it. I'm not fond of binding...it's boring and time consuming! The only good part is when you are done you are done, LOL!

When I sandwich my quilts, I put safety pins real close around all the edges. After I quilt it, I trim off the edges, baste with a large stitch, sew binding to the front the front, fold to the back and ladder stitch it. I sew it by hand.

What an awesome idea. Thanks for posting it.

I was taught that a full binding will last longer and if a quilt is to be judged it is a big no no if the binding is not full. And I like the look. That said, I stitch the binding onto the back with a walking foot before trimming. The excess provides a stable area for the entire walking foot to rest on. Then when I trim I try leaving a little more for a short distance & turn to the front to be sure I have enough to make it full but not so much it makes it difficult to hand stitch to the back. If there is a little to much in some places, I can always trim a little away before stitching. I enjoy making hand finished binding

I sew it on the back of the quilt, then trim and turn it over and sew it from the front.

Why? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you like the result, stick with it. Might not work in a quilt show but for every day quilts it may be just fine. How about making a tut so the rest of us can give it a try?

While the serger sounds easier I still like the fullness of a nice binding. To each his/her own!

More on the full side.

I have my serger set up all the time for sewing clothing. Its natural for me to serge layers of wovens together for a clean finish. On my first quilt, I serged before adding the binding because it gave me a guideline to use for sewing the binding on and prevented the layers from shifting around. I've continued to do the same thing on subsequent quilts. If you like a puffier binding, I think you could probably loosen the tension on the upper looper and add a strip of batting as you serge.

Oh, and the serger is very fast!

I ask my LAQ to leave the basting stitch on - she usually trims the quilt so it is ready for binding. I machine bind so I sew the back first then use blind hem stitch (reversed) for the front. Using invisible thread it is hard to see any stitches.

I use my serger all the time to serge around ALL of the quilts that I make. I mark and stitch with long stitches (no pins near the serger) the edges so that it is squared then follow that line as I serge making sure that it is not puckered underneath. It is wonderful to have the quilt "behave" while sewing on the binding as the serged edge provides you with the 1/4 inch seam allowance and it is much easier to fold over the binding to the back and most of the time it covers the stitching, then I hand stitch the back. Hope this helps. Mary

I am still a novice quilter and I am learning a lot from the members of this board. Machine basting will probably help make the binding go on easier. Binding still intimidates me. lol

I trim the batting and backing, and then baste the edges all around. I sew the binding to the front and roll to the back, mitering the corners as I go. I use the little girls hair clips to hold the bindng in place (I have several hundred of them) and then sew down by hand. Then I block the quilt before I send it away.

Serging seems like a waste of thread to me. I trim my quilts, then sew the binding on and that could be to the front or the back. Turn the binding and machine stitch. Sometimes it is a decorative stitch and sometimes a straight stitch. I like my bindings full and I do not care for hand stitched bindings at all - I don't care how good you are. It looks unfinished to ME. But, that is my personal opinion.

The nice thing about this hobby is we can all do it our own way.

I sew the binding on the frontby machine, trim the leftovers by hand wiht a rotary cutter, then finish the back by sewing on the front to back on the sewing machine.

After trimming, I sew it to the back first with machine,then fold to the top and top stitch along the edge very close to the edge. Too much work to do it by hand and I like the look of the neat topstitching. I miter the corners of the binding so they are nice and sharpl

I do mine the by sewing to the front and hand stitching on the back, but I trim first. I have watched Eleanor Burns and she sews the binding on before she squares up/trims! As long as whatever we do works for us, I think we are, as they say, "golden".

Yup. I do mine the same way. It is classic and probably because it works every time.