FM Quilter Clare Degerness has found an excellent alternative to traditional binding when she’s finishing small quilts.
She uses her couching foot to sew down decorative cording along the edge of her small art quilts. She threads the cording through the front hole in the foot from the top and brings it underneath the presser foot. The next step is to set her machine to zigzag with the stitch width wide enough that it goes over the cord.
This technique gives a more polished look than a plain zigzag and is easier to attach than a folded binding when the quilt is small. No hand sewing needed–just stitch on all 4 sides of the quilt, turning at the corners.
You can couch just about any yarn, trim or cord that will fit through the hole.