Jan in VA

I was thinking the same. I remember when we often used muslin as the backings of our quilts, and in the background of the blocks as well, and it seemed to get dingy and dirty looking too quickly for me.

That was the main reason I began to use prints for my backings and swore off most muslin in my quilts --- about a hundred years ago!

Jan in VA

barny

I've used lots of muslin for backing and binding. But, I make sure I buy the best I can find.

NikkiLu

Same thoughts here. I inherited several very old quilts from my DH's mother/grandmother and they were made from feedsacks and bound with the same - muslin. The binding on most of the quilts is very worn out, needs replacing, except I will never use the quilts again and sort of like the look of a worn out quilt.

Geri B

My question too......explain why you were considering muslin. Or are you thinking of the color of natural muslin in flannel for binding?

Geri B

Sorry but I still use muslin (good quality) for my backings and also sometimes for piecing-if a traditional-type pattern. And have had no trouble with it looking dingy or getting dirty faster......and have been doing this for a longtime ..not quite 100yrs!! I use the printed fabs for quilt top. Isn't that what I am supposed to do? The stores love all that extra fab that is being bought for quilt backs!

suern3

I would use flannel since it is an all flannel quilt. Did you ask the client's preference?

alleyoop1

Please take a look at my avatar.....it has muslin binding and it gets lots of use and is still like new. I cut the binding 2 1/2" wide and folded it in half so it's double all the way around. The corner blocks are set in muslin and the entire back of the quilt is muslin.
Now, having said that - you can buy different qualities of muslin. I'd go for the best quality you can afford because it will get lots of wear.

AlienQuilter

I agree. You run the risk of quilt shrinking more if washed a couple of times but the binding not shrinking as much. It would be a warped look.

A good quality muslin would be okay for binding if, say, the backing was muslin also.

I'm making a flannel quilt right now and I plan on using flannel for the binding. Flannel these days comes in all colors. I recently bought some very nice Moda flannel that I plan on backing my DH's quilt with and also using it for the binding.

Holice

If you want the muslin look, I suggest Ecology Cloth. It is a muslin look but tightly woven. However there are different qualities of muslin. I would get the best quality available. Good muslin is not cheaply made fabric.

applique

[QUOTE=AlienQuilter;6259897]I agree. You run the risk of quilt shrinking more if washed a couple of times but the binding not shrinking as much. It would be a warped look.

Boy is this true! I made a batik quilt then grabbed a black binding which I thought was batik. It wasn't batik and when the quilt was washed the binding shrank just enough to ruin the quilt. I sure learned that lesson the hard way!