For a long time I thought hand-stitching a binding was just what you did — that skipping it meant the quilt wasn't really finished properly. Then I made a quilt for my nephew's toddler bed, something that was going to be washed weekly and dragged around the house, and hand-stitched a binding I knew wouldn't hold up to that kind of use. Machine binding start to finish turned out to be sturdier for exactly that reason, and considerably faster. I still hand-stitch bindings on quilts meant for showing, but for anything headed into daily use, machine binding is now my default.
Attach binding to the front first
Machine binding starts the same way most binding does: fold your binding strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and sew it to the front of the quilt with a consistent seam allowance, raw edges aligned with the quilt's raw edge. A generous, consistent seam allowance matters more here than in most piecing, because that seam allowance determines how much fabric folds around to the back — a scant or uneven seam allowance leaves too little binding to fold over cleanly, and it will vary from side to side if your seam allowance wanders while you sew. Use a walking foot if you have one; it feeds the binding and the quilt layers through evenly, which keeps the binding from stretching or puckering as it goes through the machine.
Fold to the back and pin it down before stitching
Once the binding is sewn to the front, fold it around the raw edge to the back of the quilt. Done correctly, the folded edge on the back should just cover the line of stitching you used to attach it to the front — that's the entire reason a consistent, generous seam allowance on the front attachment step matters so much. If the front seam allowance was too narrow, the folded binding won't reach the stitching line on the back, and you'll either have a gap of raw quilt sandwich showing or you'll need to stitch a visible line on the back that isn't aligned with the front. Pin or clip the folded binding in place all the way around before you sew, checking as you go that the fold consistently reaches just past the front stitching line.
Topstitch from the front, catching the back fold
With everything pinned or clipped, stitch from the front side, sewing close to the binding's inner edge — the seam line where binding meets quilt top — so the stitching catches the folded edge on the back as it passes underneath. This is the step that replaces hand-stitching entirely: instead of hand-sewing that back fold down with small stitches, the machine does it in one continuous topstitched line, visible on the front as a neat line just inside the binding's edge. Go slowly and check the back periodically as you sew, especially early on, to confirm the stitching is consistently catching the fold rather than missing it in spots. It's much faster to catch a missed section every foot or so than to discover after binding the whole quilt that a long stretch on the back was never actually caught.
Mitering corners without bulk
Corners are where machine binding earns its reputation for being fussier than straight edges, but the technique is consistent once you've done it a couple of times. When you reach a corner while attaching binding to the front, stop sewing a seam allowance's width from the edge, backstitch, and remove the quilt from the machine. Fold the binding straight up, away from the quilt, to form a 45-degree angle, then fold it back down along the next edge, aligning the fold with the raw edge you're about to sew. This double fold is what creates the mitered corner and keeps bulk out of the seam. When you later fold the binding to the back, the same corner should fold into a mirrored miter on that side with a little finger-pressing and patience — work it into place before pinning so the fold sits flat rather than forcing it under the machine.
Machine finish versus hand finish — the honest tradeoff
Machine-finished binding is faster, and it's noticeably more durable under repeated washing and everyday handling, which is exactly why it makes sense for utility quilts, kids' quilts, and anything that's going to see real wear. It is visibly a machine stitch on the front, though — a straight topstitched line rather than the nearly invisible hand stitches a whip stitch or blind hem produces. For quilts headed to a show, a competition, or simply a project where the binding itself is meant to disappear into the quilt, many quilters still prefer a hand-finished binding for that reason alone. Neither method is more "correct" than the other; they're suited to different quilts, and it's worth choosing based on how the quilt will actually be used rather than which method feels more traditional.
Joining binding strips and testing your seam before committing
Before any of this starts, your binding needs to be one continuous length, which usually means joining several strips end to end with diagonal seams so the join doesn't create a lump when it later gets folded and stitched through. Sew strip ends together at a 45-degree angle, trim the seam allowance to a quarter inch, and press it open — a diagonal seam distributes bulk across a wider stretch of fabric than a straight seam would, which matters once that spot passes under the machine three layers deep. It's worth sewing a short test length on scrap fabric and scrap batting before starting on the actual quilt, especially if it's your first time binding by machine, just to confirm your seam allowance and stitch placement are landing where you expect on both the front and the back. A few minutes of testing on scrap is a lot cheaper than unpicking a missed topstitch line from an already-finished quilt.