Originally Posted by
osewme
Now my question is....how do you keep the front and the pieced back straight & lined up when you get ready to quilt it? I made a quilt once & put a back on that had a pieced strip from some left over front & the back did not come out straight after it was quilted. The front was easy since I could see it while quilting but not so for the back.
I lay out the batting and the quilt top without the backing and baste a straight stitch using a thread that contrasts with the batting, first along the horizontal and vertical center lines, then about every 12 inches (or around every block) all the way to the edges. I can then flip it over and use the basting as guidelines to position the backing side and do a proper basting thru all three layers. It only takes about an extra hour or so, but is totally worth it to get both sides lined up properly.