lillybeck

I have often wondered why charity quilts are treated different from the others we do.

willferg

I am always on the lookout for alternative methods of attaching binding. I do think hand sewn on back looks the best, but I too loathe taking the time to do that. I've come up with what I call my raggedy binding using flannel, which is on my blog, and I've also found this approach, which I haven't tried yet:

https://ukcitycrafter.wordpress.com/...sible-binding/

Lyncat

When I make baby quilts I sew the binding to the back and use a fancy stitch to sew it down on the front.

Mariposa

I use 2.25" strips, and sew it down to the back first. Then on the front, I use whatever stitch appeals to me, and sew away! No hand stitching here....due to carpal tunnel and that I want my quilts done in this lifetime!

elnan

Charity quilts often go to institutions and get rougher handling. Hand sewn bindings wouldn't last long in a commercial washer. I've even seen an information sheet from one charity declaring that the bindings must be machine sewn.

klswift

I machine sew most of my bindings. I bow to those who hand sew theirs, I do not have the patience! I sew the binding on the back and machine stitch from the front. The trick is to be very careful with the turning and pinning so you know they match perfectly. I often use some form of decorative stitch. One a child's quilt, I may just use a zigzag. Sometimes I use a tight blanket stitch but most of the time I find a decorative stitch that matches to top. This can hide a 'shaky' spot. All my imperfections shine huge when I use a straight stitch to machine bind a quilt!

tinliz

I use this method for binding. Great tutorial. The flang gives my quilts an extra pop

http://www.52quilts.com/2012/05/tues...c-binding.html

Chasing Hawk

I never liked the look of machine binding the first few times I tried it. So now I just use the machine to sew it to the back, bring it over to the front , pin it and hand sew it. Doing it this way, I can spend time with my husband and still sew. We usually watch a movie if I have hand sewing to do.

Melanie Rudy

I use this BACK TO FRONT method as well. I use different decorative stitches when I sew the binding onto the front. It makes a beautiful binding and takes much less time. It is also more durable then a hand stitched binding.

Jingle

For charity quilts I machine sew on the back, fold to the front and sew binding down. If I were doing other quilts I would hand sew on the back.
For charity quilts I think machine sewn is better and more important to make more quilts. I don't know who will get them or how they will care for them.