How Wide Do You Cut Your Binding?

Funny - I thought I'd mentioned my favorite quilting tool, the one I treasure the most (other than my longarm, of course), but looking at my old posts, I just realized I've shown it, but never done a post about it.

It's my little lucite "Binding Buddy" ruler.  bought it in May of 2011, while visiting my cousins in Florida, and it's been my most treasured tool ever since.

It's 2.5" wide and 30" long - just perfect for whipping through 45" fabric folded in half.

My quilting buddy Sharon saw it and wanted one, so I got one for her.  I didn't really look at it when I got it - but last week I happened to pick it up and - hey!?!  What's THIS?!?!?!

My binding buddy is on the right.  Sharon's is on the left.  Do you see what I see?

Sharon's rule is 1/4" more narrow than mine!  Oh, NO!  What's up with that?

Well - I was worried sick that the smaller width would make binding that's too narrow... ...so I used her ruler to cut out the binding for my most recent project. And guess what!  Cutting the binding 1/4" more narrow actually yields binding that sits nicer on the quilt!  Once the binding is folded in half and stitched to the quilt edge (with a 1/4" seam allowance), it flips over the edge and lines up perfectly with the stitch line on the back - no "floppy" bits, but a nice snug fit.  With 2 1/2" wide binding, there's a little flop of excess.  It never bothered me before, but I've never really thought about it.

Well, whaddya know?

From here out, I'll be cutting my binding a little more narrow!