I deliberately quilt off the edges. When you go over them with your binding, it seals the seams and I feel that makes them stronger than if I kept everything within the area.
I've been machine quilting and machine washing for a long time. For the most part a weak seam will come apart long before any quilting comes out.
When piecing I think most people I observe are using much too big stitch lengths, I see very few people adjust their stitch length and just sit down and sew at the default. Maybe that's just my friends but I suspect most starting quilters are not adjusting their length. I know with my Bernina the default is much too big, but it took me a bit to figure this out because it starts each row with a few tight stitches. When I work, I use modern construction techniques and so I'm strip piecing and cutting those stitches. I was having issues putting the blocks together with the edges coming open. If you can easily pull away 3-4 stitches on the end of a seam, your stitch length is too big.