wildyard

I am so sorry I missed your comment previously MilyLily. I didn't mean to ignore you or be dismissive. I use fleece as the backing on all my quilts and have gotten pretty good at keeping it smooth I think. I spread it out flat and smooth then I hook clip clothes hangers to the edges of it to keep it taut. Next I center my top on the fleece, wrong sides together. I use safety pins for basting and place them about every 5 to 6 inches over the entire top. I pay special attention to the corners, centers and quarter edges of each block as well as the whole quilt to keep things well squared up. As a rule, I quilt one block at a time rather than an all over meander of the whole quilt. This helps me keep any stretching confined to a smaller area and I am able to catch and correct it right away. I usually do one block in the center of the quilt to start, but from there, I either work my way out, or go to the edges and work my way in. I generally do outside in if I am skimpy on backing and want to be sure I have enough at the outer edges. In that case, after doing a center block, I will next stitch the outside edge all around the quilt to be sure it's secure, then start on doing the edge blocks. I will do the center sides on each side, then the center top and bottom and work my way in to the middle. Next I will work my way from the middle back out to the edge diagonally across to the corners.
It sounds like a lot of work but it really isn't. It's just the pattern I follow automatically based on the quilt design and how the backing fits the top, etc. And I must say that I do stop and check the backing frequently to make sure things are as they should be. If they are not, I can ripit sooner rather than later. LOL