Quilt backs

[Gloria H.]

How to design a quilt back for a quilt that will be used and loved. I am in need of ideas for making the back interesting but not too time consuming, any suggestions?

[Gloria H.]

My girlfriend who is a prolific quilts does several thing to her backs that might be helpful

1/ She does the UGLY BACK thing ... using up all the fabric she bought long ago and no longer suits her style, color scheme or her current needs... sometimes she pieces the smaller fat quarters and pieces together... For large yardage she often does the dagonal trick that John Flynn shows on Fons and Porter and his DVD... this gives a diagonal treatment that is better for when she takes her quilts to the longarmer.

2/ She has been using some of her earlier less successful quilt tops on the back of some of her current works... She says she feels less WASTEFUL if she uses something she made earlier and now no longer likes as part of her backing. It lets her see how far she has improved in her quilting skills.

3/ She tends to make a spiral on the back of her quilts using small farbrics and just keeps long cabining the peices all around the backing until she has a back big enough for her project... She says she feels artistic when she does that... It tend to be intersting as she really plays with color placement and does a lot of experimenting when she makes her quit backs. Sometimes I think she takes longer making her backs then she does her fronts.


Me I just buy quilt backs from my local shop... I like the quilting that is highlighted on the back... reminds me of whole cloth.





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[Carla G.]

For my quilts that I want to be well used I use flannel backing for the feel and warmth..... I too like the plainer back to highlight the quilting motifs

Carla

[Michelle T.]

In an effort to keep my stash "manageable" I use the fabric left from piecing the front to create the back. Since I seem to have a habit of buying way too much fabric :wink: for a design there is usually enough left to cover the back also.

Michelle

[Annette R.]

Ricky invented convergences when he was trying to make the back for his Flying Colors quilt. (you can see the front on his website under Ricky's quilts, 1996 to present). So making a large scale convergence would be a quick and gorgeous way to back a quilt.

Another thought, I just made a baby quilt that I hope will be well used and pieced together red white and blue five inch charm squares. It has a scrappy look, was quick and easy because I just sewed them in rows until it was as large as the front, and perfect because the baby's daddy is a huge red white and blue fan. Daddy loved it and hopefully little Wyatt will too.

Ann (now a great great aunt that makes me sound so old lol except nephew told me I always was a "great" aunt and now I am just twice as great)

[Annette R.]

These are all such great ideas, I am going to try many of them. One more question, I have three yards of fabric which leaves me needing about 1/2 yard more for the backing. The fabric was chosen by the person who will receive the quilt. I really want to use all the main fabric, how can I add in another 1/2 yard without making it look choppy?

[Sandy F.]

http://www.flynnquilt.com/freepattern.html

Check out John Flynn's diagonal seam for backing fabric. It might work for your.

[Judy M.]

You could add a strip of the new fabric across the center of the backing with 1 1/2 yards of the quilt fabric on each side of the strip. This could go either vertically or horizontally. I usually cut up unused fabric from the quilt top into 12 inch squares, sew them randomly together for a backing for my grandkids' quilts. It's a good way to use up fabric you probably won't use any other way.

[Eileen K.]

I don't know about other Longarm quilters, but I like busy backings. The busier the better-doesn't show the starts and stops like plain fabric does.
As for pieced backs, I don't like too many pieces. The backing seams can often be behind a thick area on the top-eg, when many seams come together in the center of a star. I've had needles break because the back had too many seams in bad places.
JMHO,
eileenkny

[Lynn K.]

I am trying to use up what's left of my top fabrics if possible, plus it gives me another way to challenge myself with design. Whatever is left, ...... I try to use it, and then finish filling the space with something that does some kind of coordination.

[Sandy F.]

Hand quilting I avoid as many seams as possible on the back. Even it I only have one seam in the back I sew through that seam way more than I should.

[Mary K.]

I am always cruising the sale farbics (before I even make a quilt) to look for fabrics that are at a big discount that may make a good back in the future. I have come across some great stuff that I have tucked away waiting for it's future top mate. Mary Kay

[Mary K.]

Hi, I've seen some really nice fabrics I thought would make a nice backing fabric for a future quilt, but, how do you know how much to buy if you havn't picked pattern, size etc. I'm always afraid I would buy too little and then wouldn't be able to find more later. Is there some general amount that would be good to know? I wouldn't mind buying too much if it was on sale, cause I can make pillow shams! hehe Thanks, any advice appreciated. Sandi in FL

[Mary K.]

Hi, I've seen some really nice fabrics I thought would make a nice backing fabric for a future quilt, but, how do you know how much to buy if you havn't picked pattern, size etc. I'm always afraid I would buy too little and then wouldn't be able to find more later. Is there some general amount that would be good to know? I wouldn't mind buying too much if it was on sale, cause I can make pillow shams! hehe Thanks, any advice appreciated. Sandi in FL

Can't say that I have an exact answer, but I might buy 6 or 7 yds of something on sale. And when I finish the quilt top if I find what I bought is not quite enough to make the complete quilt back then I add a complimentary border to the backing to make it big enough. One of my first quilting mentors (a wonderful women that I worked with in Houston) used to tell me that being short on a specific fabrics is just a GREAT opportunity to use more creativity in the development of the quilt. I have always looked at fabric shortage or a mistake in the piecing or quilting as an opportunity for creativity! Hope that helps! Mary Kay

[Mary K.]

If you're going to piece your back, particularly if your quilting is going to be anything with a distinct center, it's easier to either have a big chunk of fabric in the center, or make it intentionally scrappy, albeit BIG pieces. Just the thought of trying to match up a front center with a back center unnerves me! Even having matching borders is a challenge. How do I know? I used some Jane Sassaman fabrics to back my most recent quilt, pieced somewhat like a 9-patch variation, with a wide mitered binding. because it had a large center square I didn't truly have to match centers, but trying to get those borders close to even was killer!

If it's going to look wonky, plan it that way!
Ann's convergence recommendation would be great too. I love when the backing makes a second quilt.
Florence