I am new to quilting. Actually I haven't quilted anything yet. I have pieced two tops and am ready to get to the quilty part. I have a question however. Why does the backing have to be 4 inches larger that the top? I pieced the backin as well as the top to make this a multi versital quilt. Looks like I am going to have to use my inventivness to add another 4 inches. But I am really curious as to the why? Hope someone can help me.

Hello, and welcome from Idaho!

I know the extra is important on the longarm, but I don't know about domestic machines.

Hello and Welcome from Germany! I'm not a piecer, I only do handquilting - but I'm sure you will get your answers.

Hello and welcome from England !

Welcome to the board from Southern California!!!

Welcome from southeastern PA!

If your doing the quilting yourself - not longarm - you just need to make sure your backing is a bit larger than the quilt top so that when you trim or square it up before binding, you don't come up short with the backing.

Hello and welcome from SW Iowa. Glad to have you here.

Hello and Welcome to the board :D:D:D

If the backing pulls in due to the quilting, it may end up shorter than the top. I am not sure why the quilt top doesn't do this as much, maybe the piecing gives it more "give?"
I think the more heavily you quilt a top, the more of an issue this may be JMHO :D:D:D

welcome!

Hello and welcome to the board!