Quilt Binding

I make the binding that is sewn around the edge of the quilts using a modified 'continuous binding' approach.

The steps are as follows:

1. Begin with a square of fabric (half a yard will create enough binding for several baby quilts) 
   
2. Cut diagonally (45 degree angle) across the square.
3. Re-orient the fabric so the hypotenuse of the triangle is parallel to the direction you like to cut. Sometimes here, I will fold the fabric in half so it is short enough for the ruler I use as a cutting guide.
4. Cut the fabric into strips. I use 1 3/4" wide strips.
   
5. Sew the fabric using the diagonal ends to create a seam that will fall at a 45 degree angle to the length of the binding material. This will make the binding easier to fold around the quilt edge.
   

You should not have a really long, narrow strip of fabric. At this point, you can either fold the fabric and iron or you can use a bias tape maker. A bias tape maker will fold the fabric on both edges to create seam allowances. You can iron the fabric as you pull it through the tool. 

The final step that I do is to fold the bias tape so one side is slightly wider than the other.  

The end result is a long, continuous piece of bias tape. The diagonal cut make this bias tape stretchy and more forgiving when you add it to your quilt. If you only have a long, narrow piece of fabric to make your binding, you can probably get away with cutting along the fabric grain.