If you don't quilt it very densely, I think that the tree skirt won't shrink up a lot. You probably want it to be drapey anyway, not stiff. If you won't have time to quilt it this year, I say go for it and bind it, quilt it later! Or here's an alternative idea that just occurred to me... what if you sewed the binding on by machine using water soluble thread? then you could dampen the edge, take off the binding, quilt it and re=bind for next year. Kathy