I need 3 1/2 yds of material for my backing fabric. The quilt store only had 2 5/8 yds so I bought what they had. I cut the fabric in half like my pattern says and sewed the two halves together. The fabric is wider than I need but not tall enough. Should I just cut from the sides and sew the extra fabric from the sides to the top to try to make it tall enough? This is my very first quilt so advice would be most welcome. Thanks!

If it would make it big enough, that is for sure what I would do! :thumbup:

Keep in mind that you want some inches all the way around it...especially if you are going to have someone else quilt it for you...
by all means if you take some off the sides and add it to top and or bottom and it works do so...

I'll be quilting it myself. How many inches around the sides should I leave?

That is probably what I would do as well...
Do you still have your receipt? I'm just wondering if there are any UPC/SKU (stock) numbers on there, they could look it up to see if they have more, or they could order more for you.

Otherwise, like a previous poster said, make sure you have several inches all the way around, if there is enough left to piece to the top or bottom to make it big enough, than do that. Or use another piece of coordinating fabric and add it to the top and bottom of the back.
You'll figure something out! Don't be afraid to ask if you have more questions! :lol: Everyone here is super helpful!

Also, welcome to the board from Minnesota!

Thanks Heather! :-D

Leave yourself a 2" - 3" on each side. If it is going to a LAQ it should be 3" - 4" on each side.

One time when I was making two 'matching' twin quilts for my 2 DGD's. I had purchased the backing on a road trip. When I got home ^&%*^%( I was only inches short. What I did was to add a small strip at one end of the quilt(s). Talked to my LAQ about my problem, she was able to line things up so after it was quilted I was able to unsew the strip and every thing looked fine.

What's a LAQ?

Long Arm Quilter

Thank you! I'll be hand quilting it so I'll leave at the most 3" all around the sides.

Thank you everyone for your advice and reassurance!

Go to John Flynn's site. He has a neat way to make this all work out for you. http://bsue.wordpress.com/2007/03/25...ng-directions/

That is pretty slick. I would never have thought about it, but it should work!

Amazing concept! I shall give it a try too.

If you have some fabric left from the quilt top, now would be your chance to add some of that in the backing. If you decide to go with that option, you could put it at one end, and use that as a turn back on the bed, or perhaps you could cut what you have in half, horizontally, and add a piano key strip through the middle. (Piano key strip is made of short lengths of all your fabrics, sewn together a la piano keys. Repeat the fabrics for as long as you need the strip to be).

I would take another fabric and split the back in the middle, cross wize, and sew a strip in to make it long enough. Folks will think you are so creative. Or a strip of pieced blocks..... Make it appear to be part of the back.

I sometimes don't have enough backing material so what I like to do (and it adds interest to the back) is insert another color, pattern, or whatever may coordinate with the front and back. If the backing is too short, I cut towards the bottom, maybe leaving a 12" piece or less depending on how big the quilt is, and add a strip of the coordinating fabric wide enough to make the backing long enough. Just be sure to leave enough at the bottom of the original fabric so you can see the insert. You can do the same thing if the backing material is not wide enough. I posted a D9P in the Pictures section that I recently finished that I inserted a strip of the front D9P fabric to the back because my backing material was not long enough. Modern style quilts are usually pieced like this. There are some great examples of this on Flickr.

I second this one- Incorporate your fabric left over from the top.. Instead of one beautiful quilt it will be like they have two...