Piecing a back is not a problem for me. I usually try to add something of interest, if possible, like a "spine" of the scraps from the front, or maybe just a block of them. After all the piecing on the front, the simple back is a a piece of cake! Plus I love the anticipation of the "surprise" to be had when the quilt is turned over.

[QUOTE=duckydo;5631321]There are lots of ways to make a backing, if you are going to send it out to a LA, it makes it so much easier on the LA if you make the backing at least 8" longer and 8" wider, then if there is any shrinkage when quilting there will be enough fabric.----(snip)--

And may I add, those extra inches on the side give the LAer a place to check the tension. If I forget to
have the quilter bring a few scraps of the fabric that is used in the top I raid my stash for similar weight & weave of fabric and stitch them out to the side on the extra backing & batting for tension checks.

I was machine quilting just this week and had the backing seam running the length of the quilt as it was mounted on the frame. My quilting mentor told me it's better to have it run horizontally on the frame since the seam doesn't stretch as it's being quilted (unlike the rest of the backing which will give a little as it's quilted). So if you're machine quilting, that might make a difference in how you plan your backings - it will for me :-)

Thanks - I didn't know about this company. She has all the 'name' fabric companies.

I am fond of pieced backs. It's like getting two quilts while only having to quilt one! I do my own quilting on my DSM. I do buy the wide backs sometimes and have been known to use quality cotton sheets for backs if the fabric is perfect. I love the prints in the old vintage sheets from the days when they were all 100% cotton and people used to iron them (my grandma always did). I love browsing thrift shops for them but always check them carefully for holes/wear/stains and wash them two or three times b4 using them. (I took a class with Bonnie Hunter and was tickled when she told us she buys vintage clothing and sheets at thrift shops and estate sales to use in her quilts. I had begun to think I might be just a little weird! Well, maybe I am, but if she can do it, I can too!)

I always choose a fabric that will coordinate somehow with the pieced front, so that my quilts are really two sided. I also make three panels on the back, with the outside two smaller than the middle so that folding won't stress the seams. But I would love to find really nice backing fabrics in one piece. It is so hard for me to handle big pieces of fabric and have to sew long seams. I will check out some of the suggested places to find wide fabrics. Thanks for the information.

I love to piece the back with fabrics from the front. I generally use graph paper to lay out a design and figure out the best way to sew it together. I have moved to thinking that the back of a quilt is just about as important as the front. After all, when you pull the quilt up over you, what do you see? The back!

If I'm machine quilting a bed-sized quilt, I usually do it in sections, which makes piecing the back a bit easier. I usually use a busy fabric on the back when I machine quilt so my stitches don't show! I buy fabric I like on sale for just that purpose (6-7 yds usually).

my choice too. Too me unbleached muslin is the only backing to use. smile. (except for little guy quilts)

It is worth it to get the wide backing, and there is so much more choice now than there used to be. But one other option, if you want a particular fabric, is to use the diagonal cut method. Just buy a little extra in length, cut in half diagonally and slide one side down until the width is right. This way, the seam is evenly distributed the length of the quilt. Here is a calculator: http://www.multi-patch.com/html/diag...calculator.php