backing a quilt
 

Has anyone used fleece as a backing for a quilt? I'm making a quilt for my grandson and fiance for a wedding present. They picked the pattern and asked me if I could back it with fleece. Will it work and is it hard to handle?

I am quilting one with flannel as the backing and no batting. I wanted it to be lighter than a regular quilt. I will tell you next week if it came ok.

We did it once, and it quilted great. Since there is a lot of pile in the fleece, most of the quilting disappeared on the back. I didn't have any trouble with stretch, but it was not a bed-sized quilt. There was very little lint in the quilting, which was a definite plus. We used batting and the fleece because we wanted a very warm quilt; it qualifies.

Darren

Fleeece works great and you don't need batting - buy the kind of fleece that says it will not pill as excess use may make them look "pilled" after a while if you use them a lot. I have one and have used fleece on baby quilts - and it wears really well, and is so cuddly warm. Love them; plan to use fleece or flannel on the backs of all my quilts especially lap quilts and throws from now on. I love the flannel on teh back of the bed sized quilts too - seems warmer - or cozier at least than plain cotton or muslin.

I also have used fleece with no batting on several quilts, and it has worked out fine. I agree that the anti-pill fleece will look nicer longer, and I would also recommend that you avoid stretchy fleece. Check the fleece as it unwinds from the bolt and make sure it is not stretched out in some areas. If it has been wound on the bolt crooked, it seems like it is a losing battle to get it "on grain", especially near the selvage.

Dayle

i have used it for small lap quilts, with batting, and I liked it. Seemed like it was easy to keep 'smooth' and I agree that the quilting on the back does tend to want to hide. Good luck!