Binding - Machine or Hand Sew??

[SFOQuilter]

Im curious to know how many of you hand sew your bindings to the back and how many machine sew down. I love the look of hand sewing it down but it sure does take a lot of time.

SFOQuilter
Michelle

[Evie]

It depends on who the quilt is for. If it's for a child, I will machine sew. Sometimes I hem instead of bind if the backing is tougher than any binding I could put on there. I backed my youngest son's quilt with Minkee and decided to bring it around to the top and hem it. In the photo section, one of the form members sewed the binding onto the back, then brought it around to the top and did a decorative stitch around it. I will try to find it and move it to the top of the photo section. It was very nicely done.

[Evie]

Ok, the topic is "Tried Something New":

http://www.quiltinaday.com/community/to ... topic=4398

The poster is grammy65.

Scroll down through the pictures until you see it.

I also bumped it to the top of the Photo Section.

[knitnoid]

I sew my bindings down by machine. I've got a several reasons:

1 - My quilts are machine pieced and quilted, so why hand stitch the binding.
2 - I want to make sure the binding stays in place. My quilts are meant to be used, and I doubt my handstitching will stand up to the wear and tear.
3 - My wrists & elbow can't tolerate handstitching for more than a couple of minutes so if i had to handstitch the binding, the quilt wouldn't be finished.
4 - Done is better than perfect.

Now, having said this, when I finally finish piecing my double wedding ring quilt, my intention is to hand quilt the top. I figure it will take at least a year. I'll consider hand stitching the binding on that quilt as well. But I've got to get it pieced first, so who knows what I'll really do by then.

[HomespunMary]

Even though I do everything else on the machine, I like to hand sew the binding to the back. The reason is that I love the way it looks, with no visible seams on either side.

If I were in a hurry, and decided to do it by machine, I too would try it the way grammy65 did (see the link in the previous post). I think it looks great with a decorative stitch!

[Susie]

I am not an expert by any means but I enjoy the hand sewing part. Even though it takes more time I think it turns out nice. But I am one of those strange birds that feels a little sadness when I finish a quilt.
Susie

[gardenquilter]

i machine sew mine

[cindyg]

I like to hand sew my binding on the back - it's very relaxing to me and I like the way it looks. I like the way Grammy65 used a decorative stitch to sew her binding down so one of these days I'll try that method.

[sewbug]

I sew it to the back of the quilt with the machine and then invisible appliqué it to the front of the quilt. I watched many nice quilts get thrown out of competition in a quilt show this year because the binding stitches showed. The judges looked at the binding first. At least these judges did.

[CoyoteQuilts]

I have gotten so I machine sew my binding. I sew to the back then do a fancy stitch on the front with the 'joiner' foot. Most of my quilts are for kids & I don't have the time or inclination to hand stitch them. If it is a fancy quilt I will do the hand stitiching on the binding, but the rest of the quilt is always done by machine.

Sharon V.