How to Bind a Quilt Using Backing
- 1). Spread your backing fabric on your work surface with the wrong side up. Spread out the quilt batting on top of the backing fabric. Center your completed quilt top over the batting with the right side up. The backing fabric needs to be at least 2 inches larger than your quilt top, on all sides, and the batting at least an inch, to allow for shifting while basting and quilting. Baste and quilt the layers as you normally would.
- 2). Trim the batting, using the quilt top as your guide. Measure and trim the backing fabric 1 inch larger than the quilt on all sides.
- 3). Start on the bottom center edge of the quilt and fold the binding over 1/2 inch with the wrong sides together. The cut edge of the backing fabric will touch the quilt top edge. Fold the backing again, over the quilt edge, creating a binding. Pin the binding through all layers.
- 4). Continue to fold and pin the binding along the bottom edge of the quilt. Stop pinning the binding 6 inches from the corners. Repeat on the other three edges of the quilt, leaving the corners unbound.
- 5). Fold over a backing corner, matching it up with the corner of the quilt top. Fold the corner in half again, matching the folded edge with the corner of the quilt top. Fold the corner over again, this time over the corner of the quilt top. Pin the binding to the quilt. Repeat for all the corners.
- 6). Continue to pin the binding on the edges that were left unbound. This will create a miter on the corner.
- 7). Topstitch the folded inner edge of the binding, as close to the edge as possible, all the way around the quilt.
