Just sharing a little bit of what it's like when I sew!
I use to always by the little spools of coats n clark and I was always running out of thread. Then I had one of these laying around from my long arm and layed it on my table and it works just fine. Now these are all I buy. It's $2.99 and its guitermann polyester thread. They last forever!
For my binding I cut it 2.75 inches Iron it in half and sew 3/8" away from the edge. Then I fold it over and usually hand blind stich the back of the binding. On this one I actually machine sewed the back as well as the front.
Also while sewing on the binding it is very important to wear gloves, they help you keep the quilt underneath the foot. Oh and pin, pin, pin!
I never use my quilting foot. I actually use my universal foot and move my needle over 1.5 and that gives me the 1/4'' stitch.
http://www.fabric.com/ is where I purchase most my fabric
