sweetlummi

love that Missouri Star that is my go to web page .

Mkotch

For placemats, I usually make the back larger and then fold over to bind on the front. Why make the project harder than it needs to be? These are probably going to be washed a lot and should be able to withstand the laundry. Have fun!

quilterpurpledog

One bit of advice that I did not see in all of these thoughtful comments concerns the corners. I always pin my binding to the project to insure that I don't come to a corner of the project and a joint in the binding at the same time. That is difficult to deal with. If that does happen I go back to the beginning point of the binding and move it up or back a couple of inches so the binding joint misses the corner. Then, I sew the binding on the front of the quilt and hand stitch the on the back.

citruscountyquilter

I always stitch around the edge of my quilt before applying the binding using somewhere between 1/8 to 1/4" seam so that all three layers of the quilt are secure. I then stitch my binding on using the width of my walking foot which is 3/8" to the front of the quilt. I use school glue to hold the binding in place on the back and hand stitch. I like the look and find the hand sewing very relaxing. You have to wash the quilt if you use the glue. You can miter the corners or round them off. If I round them off I use bias binding.

lclang

NEVER use bias binding unless there are curves to be bound. Straight binding lays better and doesn't stretch like bias. I sew to the back first, turn to the front and machine sew binding unless the quilt is hand quilted. Then I sew to the front and hand stitch with a ladder stitch to the back.

Suz

Not me! Placemats are in the wash once a week and to me do not deserve hand stitching. I stitch the bias binding to the back and bring it forward to the front and then use a pretty decorative stitch to fasten down. Save the handstitching for the heirloom or better quilts.

justflyingin

I watched a tutorial by Leah Day on binding. It helped tremendously--esp. joining the ends.

I use a 2.5" strip as I really like that leftover--goes into my 2.5" strips--a much better width for me than 2.25".

Plus, I find I usually need a tad bit wider than the 2.25" width leaves me. I stitch to the back first, fold over and top stitch on the front, making sure that the fold just covers the seam. It works for me. I've been doing it on all my quilts for the last year or so.

MargeD

I would suggest watching some binding tutorials for help. I use 2 1/4" strips or 2 1/2" strips for binding, depending on the project. Also, with placemats, to save time and energy, I put batting, then top and backing RST, sew around using 1/4" seam, turn right side out, and press. I've been using 1/4" fusible tape to close the opening, or the washable Elmer's glue would work too, although I haven't tried it yet. Then, after quilting the center of the placemat, then sew 1/2" around the outside of the placemat - I think it looks like a binding that way. I think it saves a lot of time and gives a nice finish to the placemats, but that's just my humble opinion.

IBQUILTIN

If I am going to hand stitch the folded binding, I machine stitch it to the front; If I am going to machine stitch the final binding, I machine stitch it to the back first, fold it over and machine to the front

AlaskaAlice

I like to sew the binding to the back and top stitch on the front I watched the Martelli video using their corner system..it was interesting..l liked the mention of having the miters going opposite..so you don't have "pig snout" corners..had not thought of it this way before.. 'learning something everyday'