Mazo

Hello- I didn’t plan my fabric correctly. I didn’t factor in the border for a quilt. I have enough fabric, it’s just not wide enough. Should I find a different fabric that’s wide enough or is it okay to piece two together- and what’s the best way to do that? Horizontal/vertical in the middle?

Thanks for the help.

Iceblossom

I'm doing more and more with pieced backs just for design reasons which sometimes include I didn't have enough fabric. There are different ways and thoughts.

In general, for a backing fabric seam, you use a 1/2" seam and you press open. You do want to cut off the selvedges and not include them in the seam allowance if you can, they are a bit thicker and rougher and it adds up, plus there are tensions in the fabric that aren't released until you cut them off.

You want to avoid a seam being right on a fold line, that is particularly down the middle in either direction. The natural tendencies to fold the quilt there also tend to be hard on the seam. Just a couple of inches to the side is enough of an off-set. Many long-armers prefer the seams to go across horizontally, that was never much of an issue for me.

Sometimes with the shape of fabric and our projects you can cut a piece along a diagonal and sneak out a few extra inches that way. All sorts of diagrams and such, but here's a good place to start with John Flynn explaining it.
https://www.flynnquilt.com/free-lessons.htm

Here's a pdf (non calculating) from Jinny Beyer using John's math, shows a diagram
https://jinnybeyer.com/wp-content/up...-Worksheet.pdf

And here's someone else with a video references those!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ebZG0CReGM

bearisgray

I would add one or two strips - but off to the side - not centered, because it is difficult to exactly center a back and "slightly off center" is annoying to me.

Peckish

I like the diagonally-pieced backing. I've done that a lot, it works well.

Jordan

I piece my backings all the time. Sometimes I have left over blocks from the quilt or take a piece of fabric from the blocks and put it down the center if you have enough that is. I like pieced backings-this way you can use up some of the extra fabrics.

wesing

Definitely try piecing on the diagonal. I almost always use this method for baby quilts now.

https://jinnybeyer.com/wp-content/up...-Worksheet.pdf

Tartan

If you are quilting it yourself, piece it so the seams don’t hit right where you want to do intricate quilting. I agree with adding an off center addition so you don’t have to try and keep it centered.

bkay

Unless I am using some leftover blocks or something similar to add interest, I use this method to piece a back. It works well.

bkay

bearisgray

The diagonal method only works if one has enough square inches of fabric -

If one needs 4000 square inches - and only 3500 square inches are available - it will not work.

So - figure out how much area you need to cover (length x width) divided by (width of fabric x 36) to get approximate yardage needed

Example: (65 x 50) / (42 x 36)

3250 / 1512

2.143...

I would buy at least 2.25 yards to allow for shrinkage

If trying to match a pattern /design - I would allow for more fabric.

This is assuming my math is correct - my calculators are hiding at the moment -