What is your favorite material/brand to use for backing? The pattern I am using says to piece the backing but I have seen backing wide enough. Do you think the backing should be made of the same material as the sashing? I want something very soft and good quality, but not break the bank :lol: !

If I have my way or are making aquilt that I will be paid for, I buy wide material. I don't like piecing my back. Personally, my favorite quilt (and my dog's favorite, since he sleep under it too every night) is one that has a cotton blanket on the back. Is a heavy blanket I got from a hospital. It is real heavy but keeps you real warm.

that sounds nice I would love a minky back but for a queen quilt no way can I afford that- plus I would have to peice it, this is for a gift so I want it very nice, and a blanket might be too heavy- the quilt is for year round.. With the Kona muslin that was reccomended is that the kona muslin or the kona premium muslin?

I like to piece my backs, usually with left overs from the front. I don't like the quality of the extra wide backing. One of the baby quilts I made for my GD has minkee on the back. It feels so snuggly.

I just use muslin that I get from Joanns. The quilt I'm making for my nephew is a print but usually it is just muslin.

i use whatever seems appropriate at that time. if i piece horizontally or vertically, however, i stay with the same fabric. if i try to change fabrics, it's too hard to keep the seams exactly lined up with the finished edges. on a large frame on a queen quilt, if the top shifts even 1" then the seaming on the backing doesn't match the selvedge line of the top anymore. what i mean is it could end up not squaring at the corners. i don't know if i described that well.
anyway, if i plan to use more than one color, i use them diagonally. that way, nothing looks wonky.

pinwale (baby) corduroy is yummy. don't use red. even prewashed.

what do you use for your sashing my sashing is white

My backing depends on the quilt and how I am going to bind it. Both of my children's graduation quilts had backs that matched the front because I put their school initials and graduation year in block on the back (large.) I also rolled over the back of my daughter's because that was the fabric I was using to bind it. Saved me making a separate binding.

Sometimes I match a color on the front with a solid backing, sometimes I just use muslin. I tend to back baby quilts with a softer fabric that can be cuddled.

Don't mind piecing the back, but I love the ease of the full width backing.

Hope some of that helps! Good luck.

I love the wide backs from SewBatik.com . They are a good quality, no seams!, and when you figure out how much it would cost to buy the fabric it's real close in cost. These are not available in quilt shops, only through Long Arm Associates (I am one) of directly from their site.

Another good wide back is the Fat Back from Christian Lane Quilting. I haven't used them yet, personally, but I've heard great reports back from those who have.

http://www.christianlanequilters.com/widebackings.html

Hi, I have been spying on you all for several months now, and this is my first chiming-in.

I have been quilting for about 6 years now and have never followed a pattern or done anything with perfection in mind, but have come out with some pretty nifty quilts.

Being a mid-twenties person with a very limited income, I have shifted my quilting hobby from the fabric stores to the thrift stores and am focusing on 'recycled' materials. I recently started buying thick, patterned queen/king-sized flat bed sheets at Goodwill ($2 - $5) and plan to use them for quilt backings. I have a really hard time putting a plain-jane backing on my quilts and love the combination of a pieced top and a patterned, broken-in backing.

Thank you all for your great posts. I don't know any real-life quilters, so you girls are all I have to help me figure things out!