quilt back
 

I have just finished this quilt top and am going to be sending it out to be quilted. The quilt top is 43" wide by 50" long. The quilter required an extra four inches on all sides. Most fabric is 42-44" wide. Should I buy an extra wide fabric or should I piece it. If I piece it how should I do it? I usually hand quilt my quilts and quilt around my applique. Will an all over quilting pattern look good? Sorry for so many questions

Janie

John Flynn explains a neat method for diagonally piecing a wider quilt back from 44" wide fabric. I highly recommend it.

click here and scroll halfway to "diagonal pieced back".

http://flynnquilt.danemcoweb.com/workshop/FreeLessons/

And, coolness! He has an app that will do the math for you! According to his math, you will need 52" of 42" wide fabric to back your quilt IF you piece it diagonally.

I love apps. :)

I used John Flynn's diagonal piecing on a recent baby quilt back and saved almost a whole yard of fabric. It was great, because I had the perfect fabric but not enough of it to do either vertical or horizontal seaming. Wasn't hard to do, either.

Daffy

if you do choose to (straight) piece your backing- for long--arm quilting it is recommended that the seam be horizontal-not vertical. this is so the seam can lay flat & even along the take up roller- not build layer upon layer in the center-which happens with vertical seams-causing floppy sides- which on quilts that small are not a huge problem-but you get a better (even) quilt if the seam is horizontal.

this is so good to know!!! i've often thought about doing his method, but didn't want to do the math [and i was a math major :)]

Thanks for the link!

This is absolutely true. But with such a small quilt, the longarmer can load it either way, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Daffy - I've wondered about the diagonal piecing method. That's a long seam to be sewn on the bias. Did you have any problem with the fabric stretching?

We have used the diagonal method twice with excellent results. You should try it on this small quilt and you'll know next time that you can do it. Our quilt is here:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...t-t130573.html

Let us know how it goes.

Darren

I'd find a good 60 inch fabric and be done with it. There would not be very much waste at all.

Okay, I read the instructions for the diagonal backing. I don't understand how you sew the pieces together. What am I missing?