By Becky Jorgensen
Now, if there are any of you who have bound a quilt— I am betting there are — then you are aware that there are a few different methods to binding. You might think that the traditional bind is the only one out there, but girls– I think there are more! I consider the pillowcase sewing of a quilt 'binding'. Granted you aren't sewing anything extra along the edge, but when you are done and flip it right side out it has its own bind.
This article deals with the original method of taking an extra piece of fabric and sewing it along the outside edge of the quilt.
For your binding, you will need to cut a lot of strips that are 2 1/4 or 2 1/2 inches wide. If you are binding a thicker quilt, I recommend that you cut it the wider width so it can fold over all the bulk. For a table on how many strips you need for your size of quilt see the Binding Reference Chart in Related Articles.
Also there are some out there that just love a bias binding. That is a binding that has been cut at an angle instead of from selvedge to selvedge. This is wonderful if you are binding a quilt that has curves or rounded corners.
For a simple quilt that is straight, I don't really care. I just cut from selvedge to selvedge. There is also a theory that your binding will last longer if cut on the bias because- it makes the threads cross the edge and not run along the edge. Now that sounds great, but am I going to be around in 100 years when my straight cut bindings start to shred? Why worry about that now? Curves though- do the bias.