Measure across back of quilt. Cut a 6" wide strip of fabric the width of the quilt. 6" is wide enough for small quilts. If it is a full size quilt or larger, use an 8" strip. Press the ends of the strip 1/2 " to the inside, then turn again and press. Stitch the hem down. With wrong sides together, press the strip long ways. It will be a 3" sleeve . Pin the sleeve to the top of the quilt along the raw edge. You will attach this to the quilt as you sew on the binding. Leave pins in until you are finished binding the quilt. Then, stitch the sleeve down to the back of the quilt with a slip stitch. Make extra stitches at the ends to reinforce them. All done!
A "quilt sandwich" is the three layers of the quilt together. The quilt I'm doing today is 20" x 22". The larger the quilt, the more difficult this is. For this quilt, I am using a muslin backing. Cut it 2" larger than the quilt top on all sides. Place on a hard surface with right side down. Smooth out any wrinkles and tape the ends to your hard surface. Use a lint remover to remove any strings from the backing before you put the batting on. Cut cotton batting 1" larger than the quilt top on all sides. Center it on the backing. Cover with the quilt top. Use your hands to smooth out any wrinkles. Start pinning in the center of the quilt. Continue moving outward, constantly smoothing as you go. This quilt will be quilted by "stitch-in-the-ditch"; pin away from the ditch so that pins won't have to be removed during quilting. When the quilt is completely pinned together, you are ready to quilt!