Quilting G

I am curious. I like the 50x50 or even 50x70 size lap quilts and so far have used the larger widths but can only find darker fabric or muslin. I would like to use some prints and I am not sure about a seam on the back of the quilt... What are your thoughts...

Thanks!

Zoo

Hi Quilting G,
For the lap quilt I made I used 2 width of printed fabric, for the queen size one I'm quilting now I used a 108" wide fabric the fabric store calls "cheater quilts". I guess I'm lucky, they have alot of selection in thier wide fabrics, including prints. I'm sure if you look online you'll find somthing.
Zoo

Shadow Dancer

I have done both, depending on what I have on hand. I found some wide backings in wonderful colors last fall and stocked up on some. :)

pocoellie

I have done both. I've cut large pieces of fabric and sewn them together to make a patchwork back.

sharon b

I have pieced the back on mine. The only thing I can tell you is that the books say if you piece the back don't center the seam. But there are more people here with a LOT more experience than me, so listen to them .

Knot Sew

I have also done both, so go ahead and do what is best for you :D

b.zang

Like most, I have done both. If I piece the back I use very large squares, generally just cutting up my fabric and sewing it back together so it covers the area I need it to cover (keep in mind the direction of the grain). My biggest disaster was when I used a contrast colour because I didn't have enough of my backing fabric (and live hours from a store). I staggered the contrast blocks, but when I trimmed off all the extra backing fabric, the outside blocks looked obviously smaller. Since then, if I use a contract, I would make it a stripe in the middle or somthing similar.

Prism99

The traditional way to seam a backing fabric is to make two off-center seams rather than a single center seam. With regular width fabrics, this usually meant having a single wide panel width in the middle with narrower flanking panels on each side. The idea was that a centered seam in the back would present a single line of weakness in the quilt; they wanted quilts to last for decades through a lot of hard use.

These days many people piece patterns into the back. I have particularly liked those that simply have a diagonal slash through the back with contrasting fabric in the slash -- simple, but interesting!

Marcia

I usually piece my backs. I like fun and interesting backs and sometimes my backing has nothing to do with the front of my quilt. I have purchased wide backing and it is really nice. Also, costs you less to buy wide backing, even though it is a little more per yard, you do not need as many yards.

ljsunflower

I have done both. For smaller quilts, I've usually got enough of one of the fabrics that's in the front to make a backing out of. For big bed sized quilts, I'll buy a wide backing that somewhat goes with the front. And muslin is a real dream to quilt with/on!
I guess it depends on what you like on your quilt & whether you want to make a backing or buy one already big enough. It's your quilt - do what you want with it!
Linda