I trimmed the batting a skosh beyond the quilt top. My finished binding width was to be 3/8", so I trimmed the backing about 1 1/4" beyond the edge of the top.
This is to show the batting bent back all the way to the tip of the hand-quilting. I'm going to butt the raw edge of the backing fabric up against this quilting line.
Here is the raw edge of the backing being turned underneath the batting, butted up against the limits of the hand quilting.
The backing fabric now has a folded edge.
I flipped the folded edge over, encasing the top's raw edge and the edge of the batting. I secured the fold with binding clips (a.k.a. those fabulous hair barrettes from the '70s--my childhood era). The binding is now ready to be sewn down
This is a corner of the quilt in its raw state.
I placed a dot 3/8" in from either side of the quilt top's corner. I also drew a faint 45-degree line to the corner.
I flipped the backing fabric over to the front, aligning the backing's tip with the faint, 45-degree line and pulling it in no farther than when the fold reached the corner of the quilt top. I could see the dot through the backing fabric and placed another one over it on the backing fabric. I then drew a line through that dot which was parallel to the fold below. (So, the new dot and line are actually on the back of the backing fabric. Clear as mud?)
I cut the backing fabric along the line I'd drawn, making sure I could still see at least half the dot.
I drew in the raw edges of the backing fabric until the dot is on the tip of the point this action creates.
I overlayed the other two layers across the raw edges of the backing. There is now a folded edge to the backing.
I folded the point with the dot over the corner of the batting and quilt top, trying to align the dot with the first dot drawn on the quilt top.
Then I flipped the other folded edges over to the front, covering the dots. Finally, I sewed it all down.
