molly oldham

I'm making a French braid quilt using the QAYG method. I have lots of fabric scraps left over and want to piece the back. I will FMQ so the quilting needs to look good on the back as well as the front. I was thinking of the 10 minute block. Would that work?As always thanks for your help.

katier825

What if you combine your scraps into strips the length of the braid? The 10 minute block might be a bit thick in certain places when you quilt.

PaperPrincess

I also agree that a 10 minute block would be difficult to quilt thru due to bulk and the unstitched parts could possibly catch on the corner of your machine or stitch plate and/or twist. There are a lot of seams with a braid, I would go with a design with the fewest seams for the back.

dunster

I'm confused. If you're doing QAYG, that pretty much takes care of the back, doesn't it? How would you do a 10-minute block on the back with QAYG? I must be missing something...

molly oldham

I wanted to piece the backing using a pattern rather than just whole cloth. I do see, as the others have commented it would pose a problem with the multiple seams. Just want to use the scraps for the back in a pleasing way.

toverly

I did this with the French Braid that I completed. It was perfect to use up those odds and ends of the jelly roll.

ManiacQuilter2

If you start to piece a backing, they should be larger pieces to cut down on the bulk from the seams. I did a Yellow Brick Road enlarging the blocks for the back of a Bargello quilt. Came out great. I normally throw some leftover blocks into the back of a quilt. You can sometimes save on the amount of backing fabric you use on a lap quilt by inserting fabric or using up leftover blocks. Good Luck !!

dunster

I think of QAYG as quilting each block, or group of blocks, as you go. I don't know how you do this with a French Braid, since it doesn't have blocks in the normal sense. However, I did quilt a French Braid in sections years ago, before I got a longarm, and perhaps that's what you're planning. I did piece the back of that quilt also, but not in a specific pattern. Here are some pictures of what I did. I think that putting blocks in the strips would have been fairly difficult (keeping them centered and straight).