The following is just one of many ways you can bind your quilt. It is most suitable for quilts with straight edges and right angle corners.

Make Binding

Measure the length and width of your quilt. Add these measurements together, multiply by two and add 40cm. This is the length of binding you need.

Cut enough 2½ inch-wide strips so that when they are joined as described below you have sufficient length to go around the perimeter of your quilt with approximately an extra 40cm.

Remove the selvages on your strips.

Join your strips with diagonal seams.

Put the strips right sides together, perpendicular to each other. With a pencil draw a line diagonally marking where they cross over. Sew along this pencil line. Trim excess fabric.

The binding strips are joined with diagonal seams to reduce the bulk in the binding when attached to the quilt.

Fold the strip in half lengthwise, and iron. This will give you a long strip 1¼ inch wide and double thickness.

Trim Quilt

If you haven't already done so, trim away the excess batting and backing from your quilt approximately 1 inch from the raw edge of the quilt top. Further trimming will be done after attaching the binding.

Attach Binding to Quilt

Place the binding on the right side of the quilt with the raw edge of the binding in line with the edge of the quilt top. Leaving approximately 20cm of binding loose (tail), place a pin to mark the start point for sewing. Check that no seams fall in a corner by running the binding around the quilt . If this occurs, move the start point for your binding.

Attach the binding to the quilt with a ¼ inch seam. Stop sewing ¼ inch from the corner of your quilt, and backstitch or do a locking stitch. Remove the quilt from the machine.

Mitred Corners

Take the long end of binding directly up from the quilt over the seam you have just sewn, parallel with the next side of the quilt. Fold the binding down so that the fold is even with the top of the quilt and raw edges aligned with the next side of the quilt. The angle will sit in place underneath the fold. Continue sewing ¼ inch from the top edge starting at the point where you had stopped sewing.

Continue attaching the binding to the quilt, and stop sewing approximately 25cm from the start point. Backstitch or do a locking stitch and remove the quilt from the machine.

Finishing Binding

Open up the start tail, and make a 45° angle cut at approximately the half way point between the start and finish points of where the binding is attached to the quilt.

Open the finishing tail, and lay the start and finish tails flat lining up with the edge of the quilt, with the finishing tail underneath the starting tail. Mark a pencil line on the finishing tail where it lines up with the starting tail.

Cut the finishing tail with a 45° angle ½ inch longer than the mark where it lined up with the starting tail.

Sew the start and finish tails together, right sides together, offsetting ends by ¼ inch.

Sew the last section of the binding to the quilt

With the quilt back towards you, trim batting to approximately ¼ inch from the seam line where you attached the binding. This should allow the binding to be folded over the batting and for the folded edge of the binding to be sitting just over the seam line. You want your binding to be filled with the batting, but not over full, or thin and empty. It is better to not trim too much, and more later if the binding is too full.

Blind Stitch

Blind stitch the binding to the back of the quilt. At each corner, place a few small stitches in the mitred corner to hold it in place.