Its a matter of personal taste. The only problem is that the edges wear out the fastest. If you would like the quilt to last I would suggest putting on a binding. If you don't like the hand sewing, just put the entire binding on with machine. I cut 2 1/2" strips, iron in half. Square up the quilt then sew the binding to the back, bring it over to the front, pin, and machine stitch it down. It really is quite fast and I think you will be quite happy with it.