Bree123

It's definitely not functional. Wider bindings hold up better over time -- which is why there are so many commercial patterns that use them. I don't know about any change. 1/4" double fold French bindings have been found on quilts dating back at least to the 1800's so they're hardly new.

It seems to be more of a visual/design feature because the judging criteria are "There should not be a complete design on one side of the quilt and a partial design on the opposite side." That would mean that a 3/8" binding that's equal on both sides shouldn't lose any points -- although I've never seen a wider binding win in a national/international competition except in the art quilts category.

The more patterns, books, tutorials, videos & live classes I attend, the more of a difference I see between people's styles. Some market to quilters whose primary aim is to make lovely, durable quilts for their friends & family (often identifiable by descriptions like "heirloom", "classic", "traditional" and tend to have more muted color palettes in photos unless they're modern quilts -- Fons & Porter is a good example). Others need quick time-saving options so they can crank out a large number of lovely, trendy quilts in the shortest amount of time, whether for large families, charities, or whatnot (often marketed as "quick", "time-saving" "race", "shortcut", and tend to feature trendy and/or novelty fabrics -- Jenny Doan is a good example). The fewest number of classes/patterns/tutorials seem to be those aimed at competition/professional quilters (typically include details about techniques & may use words like "master", "award-winning", "perfect/perfectly" and often have more close-up photos of the quilt to show details -- Jinny Beyer is a great example). There are plenty of brand new patterns that reference the 2.5" binding strips. It's easy enough to swap those out for 2.25" or 2.125" strips and there are tons of free calculators on the web to figure out yardage whether doing a bias binding (more durable, lays flatter) or a straight-of-grain binding (cheaper/less fabric).

And, of course, local competitions have their own rules & some may even encourage wider bindings so the best thing to do is to review the rules and, if possible, look at what kind of bindings were on quilts from past winners.

soccertxi

Ditto what Bree said, plus don't forget to stitch down the mitered corners on both sides. I have only entered one show...I was finishing the binding in the parking lot on the last day you could drop off your quilt for the show (never doing THAT again!). As I drove away, I realized I had only completed ONE full corner. Had a good laugh when the comments from the judge praised the quilt for having the mitered corners stitched down!