I am new to quilting. Actually I haven't quilted anything yet. I have pieced two tops and am ready to get to the quilty part. I have a question however. Why does the backing have to be 4 inches larger that the top? I pieced the backin as well as the top to make this a multi versital quilt. Looks like I am going to have to use my inventivness to add another 4 inches. But I am really curious as to the why? Hope someone can help me.

Hello, and welcome from Idaho!

I know the extra is important on the longarm, but I don't know about domestic machines.

Hello and Welcome from Germany! I'm not a piecer, I only do handquilting - but I'm sure you will get your answers.

Hello and welcome from England !

Welcome to the board from Southern California!!!

Welcome from southeastern PA!

If your doing the quilting yourself - not longarm - you just need to make sure your backing is a bit larger than the quilt top so that when you trim or square it up before binding, you don't come up short with the backing.

Hello and welcome from SW Iowa. Glad to have you here.

Hello and Welcome to the board :D:D:D

If the backing pulls in due to the quilting, it may end up shorter than the top. I am not sure why the quilt top doesn't do this as much, maybe the piecing gives it more "give?"
I think the more heavily you quilt a top, the more of an issue this may be JMHO :D:D:D

welcome!

Hello and welcome to the board!

Welcome from St. Louis.
It seems that however hard you try, one part, either the top or the bottom will shift, or be just a tad smaller. So plan ahead and make the back larger to give you some wiggle room! It will help when you position the batting and top on the backing.
If you have your backing pieced, just add another border and go with it.

Welcome from Arkansas!

Welcome neighbor! This site is great!

Hello and welcome from Germany. I guess, the 4 " are required for having it quilted by a longarm. For myself and my domestic machine I dare to make it smaller, like 1" or 2 " larger than the top.

Howdy from Kentucky!! http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/s...um/welcome.gif

Good Morning from michigan! the extra 4 inches all the way around, if for sending your quilt to a long armer..they use the extra to clap,pull or tighten it on the frame.

you only need a few inches it your doing it yourself..

welcome from Michigan.

Hello and welcome from central Alabama.

Welcome from NE Indiana :thumbup:

Welcome from SW Missouri. There's a lot of wonderful information on this board.

Hello and welcome from Ontario.

Hello from South Carolina and welcome to the Quilting Board!

Welcome from Ireland