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Backing Help Please!!

Backing Help Please!!

Old 01-20-2011, 08:11 AM
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I need a step by step directions as to how to do a simple basic back for a quilt top.

Short story here: I am NEW to quilting and I really mean NEW...I don't know why I have to always start with hard things I just find them a challenge...I DO follow directions to patterns step by step. I ordered several Dereck Lockwood Bargello patterns(love these quilts they fasinate me) the one I chose to do first is "Diamond Lites" done in 12" blocks...took me a few weeks to do but I got the front done I was impressed how well it turned out and even my DH was impressed....Dereck's directions are Great easy to follow....BUT...in none of the patterns is he telling a person step by step how to lay out the material for the back and how to do it....do you cut the material "x" amount inches past the front...do you cut the batting the same size as the top or the back? Is there a tute to step by step how to do the back...I realize there has got to be a million ways to do a back and it depends on the top and of course how a person wants it to look.

What I have is a topper that is 66 x90 the last border for the front is black and the back is to be black...it is to take 4 yards to do the back.

My problem is I Don't know where to start and end....does that makes sense? I am certain I am making this really harder than it is.....I think I just need a push start.

I am attaching a pic of the front before I put the borders on(hope it works...haven't done an attachment before).

Thank You for your help, Roseanna (Jazzmyn)

first attempt quilt top
[ATTACH=CONFIG]164162[/ATTACH]
Attached Thumbnails attachment-164157.jpe  
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Old 01-20-2011, 08:16 AM
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Make your backing a couple inches larger than your quilt top if you are quilting it yourself. I think Longarmers want an extra 8" (4" on each side) if your sending it out to be quilted.
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Old 01-20-2011, 08:16 AM
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Surely you're joking. You can't be a beginner and do work like that one pictured.

On the backing, I cut them much bigger depending on the fabrics, quilt them and THEN cut to match.

Others can give you more precise measurements, but I would rather waste a few inches of backing and batting than come up short on them.

Lovely quilt, that's one you might want to take to shows.
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Old 01-20-2011, 08:20 AM
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Beautiful Quilt top!
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Old 01-20-2011, 08:23 AM
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I can't answer your question but your quilt is beautiful!

And I travel 5 or 6 times a year for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and will be in Albuquerque in May..Do you live close? Whats the weather like in May?
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Old 01-20-2011, 08:27 AM
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Amazing! You are far from a beginner. I never use solid fabric for my backing. I still have a lot to learn and since I have to buy the backing fabric anyway, I choose a block I have been wanting to try and make it very very big for the backing, or I do a couple of them. This way I don't have a tons of seams, but I'm learniing and got to try a pattern I have been wanting to try. Sometimes, we end up liking the back of the quilt as much as the front.
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Old 01-20-2011, 08:34 AM
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LOL.. your statements remind me of what my quilting instructer 15 years ago said as we were doing quilt blocks. I would do the advance ones then work backwards to the easy ones. She said" Lynn do you know how to crawl? every class you start out running." YOUR quilt is beautiful, and I do love the challenges as well. As for the backing size.. I always go larger like some of the other ladies have suggested. I would rather have to much, rather than not enough. I hand quilt so the extras on the sides make me feel safe LOL. I guess I'm still a Newbie as well. :oops: :lol:
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Old 01-20-2011, 08:40 AM
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if you took those 4 yards, cut in half, turned and sewed together, you would have 72"x about 80"...not enough. if you get an extra yard you can piece enough to make the length work with your 90" top. the backing and batting needs to be about 5" larger (all the way around) than the quilt top, this is then trimmed after quilting is complete..so for your quilt you need a backing to measure 76"x100". you can piece your back anyway you want to. some people use a plain back, some make them scrappy , some just sew big blocks of fabric together until its the size you want...you can do it any way you want to reach the desired size

Originally Posted by Jazzmyn
I need a step by step directions as to how to do a simple basic back for a quilt top.

Short story here: I am NEW to quilting and I really mean NEW...I don't know why I have to always start with hard things I just find them a challenge...I DO follow directions to patterns step by step. I ordered several Dereck Lockwood Bargello patterns(love these quilts they fasinate me) the one I chose to do first is "Diamond Lites" done in 12" blocks...took me a few weeks to do but I got the front done I was impressed how well it turned out and even my DH was impressed....Dereck's directions are Great easy to follow....BUT...in none of the patterns is he telling a person step by step how to lay out the material for the back and how to do it....do you cut the material "x" amount inches past the front...do you cut the batting the same size as the top or the back? Is there a tute to step by step how to do the back...I realize there has got to be a million ways to do a back and it depends on the top and of course how a person wants it to look.

What I have is a topper that is 66 x90 the last border for the front is black and the back is to be black...it is to take 4 yards to do the back.

My problem is I Don't know where to start and end....does that makes sense? I am certain I am making this really harder than it is.....I think I just need a push start.

I am attaching a pic of the front before I put the borders on(hope it works...haven't done an attachment before).

Thank You for your help, Roseanna (Jazzmyn)
:thumbup:
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Old 01-20-2011, 08:43 AM
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WOW!! My first quilt was a log cabin.Super easy.
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Old 01-20-2011, 08:49 AM
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Thank you for your help....off to buy more black material as my first try to cut the material for the back is TO short and I had a feeling it would Not work, should of asked first and cut later. What a learning experience quilting is.

This quilt top is hanging on my fire place as I said it is before I put the borders on(the picture is a little dark)....I used colors that were close to the colors suggested in the pattern so I could follow the instructions(I am so colored challenged)...and I used cheap material telling myself that if doesn't work it won't be to much of a loss. Had I known it was even going to work I would have used better material. One thing I learned was IF you don't like to follow directions Bargello's are probably NOT for you. Now that I know I can do the Bargello's and understand how they are done I will be making more of them....and since this one was a trial I will probably make it again.

This one is NOT near show quality...a few to many mistakes...but Thank You for the compliment.

missgigglewings I live in Roswell it is about 3 to 3 1/2 hours away from Albuqueque. The weather in May is generally in the 80's to 90's it is hard to say about any rain or wind Albuq. gets it share of both.

Thank you all for your compliments and help,
Have a Great Day!! Roseanna (Jazzmyn)
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