While I was binding my neutral quilt I took some pictures so that I could share my method with you.
1. Cut binding strips to 2.5" wide. Join strips to necessary length. Press in half along entire length so that it's 1.25" wide.
2. Sew the binding to the FRONT of the quilt using a 3/8" seam allowance (I use the standard presser foot width), aligning the raw edges.
3. Fold the binding around to the BACK side. Pin so that the fold is just barely covering the seam. Where the pins are the binding is covering the seam. Between the pins the fabric lifts up a little and you can see how close the seam is to the edge. When you're sewing the tension should keep the binding down between the pins.
4. PIN! These pins are every 1.5" or so. I use about 20 pins at a time, sew some, then move them down. You can pin all the way around if you want, but that would require a lot of pins. Also, the pins just have to catch the binding and a layer of the quilt. You shouldn't be able to see any part of the pin on the quilt front, they should just slide right in.
5. From the quilt FRONT, start at one corner and zig zag along the edge of the binding. You want the left point of the zig zag to be just off the edge of the binding. This ensures that on the back side the zig zag will overlap the seam line, thus hiding it.
6. About 6" from the corners, miter and pin the corner and around to the next side. At the corners, leave the needle down and to the right, then turn the quilt. Continue. My machine usually get upset at the thickness and I have to do a little pushing and pulling.
The pinning definitely slows things down, but it ensures a much cleaner looking back. The zig zag portion of binding this full size-ish quilt took me just under an hour.
I used a 2.5 stitch length and 2.5 stitch width and a size 16 needle. Play with your settings to get the desired look.
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