Best way to piece my large backing - rip not cut
 

I have 10 yards of fabric to back my oversized queen sizequilt. I always dread cutting this muchfabric and “hoping” it turns out reasonably straight.So after the discussions on ripping fabric, Ithought that seemed a much easier route to go.

So if I am picturing this correctly, I will needto do 3 panels. Except I’m havingtrouble picturing it.From my reading,it would seem that it is preferable to rip length-wise (so parallel to the selvage).But that doesn’t seem correct size wise.It would seem that I need to rip my fabricinto thirds, but that I would be ripping perpendicular to the selvage.Is that how I go about doing this?Any other pointers of what to do/not do?

What size is the quilt? Is 2 x 42" WOF =84" not wide enough?

You have to figure out what works best for the size of the quilt. Remember, your fabric is 40"+ selvage to salvage and the length is only 36" for each yard. Hope that make sense.

My quilt top is approx. 108" x 108".

For that size, I'd take your ten yards of fabric and rip it into thirds from selvage to selvage. If you can get a couple of helpers, you can just fold it into thirds (in mid-air, kind of like when you get someone to help you fold a bedsheet). Then snip at the appropriate places and rip. Be sure to divide evenly - your ten yards divided into thirds gives you about five inches extra on each end of the quilt.

To assemble, I'd leave the selvages intact and line up the selvage of two pieces, right sides together. Take a very generous seam allowance that gets you past the selvage. I mark the seam allowance on my machine bed with painters tape. It will be a big amount, at least an inch, maybe more. (Don't overdo the allowance, though. You need almost the entire three widths of fabric for your back.) Do the same with the third piece. Then trim back to a normal seam allowance and press.

Thanks Colorfulom! First time to rip, little nervous. It will rip straight? I will be ripping cross-grain then, right (trying to get the grain directions cemented in my head!).

yes, across the grain is correct.

That is exactly how I do it colorfulom. And you explained it better than I could.

I have to use a frame and computerized quilting system to quilt because of a few health problems. I have no idea what to do when quilting at a table on a DSM or a mid arm sit down machine. My quilting is not show quality, but it impresses my kids and grandkids.:thumbup:

I've heard it both ways about sewing strips of fabric on the straight of grain (perpendicular) making the backing stronger than the sewing them parallel. IMHO, the seams are always a weak point, so accurate seams are the main thing to worry about.

I do not rip fabric to get straight of grain. Just so happens that even LQS quality fabric can be printed off grain, so when you tear the fabric you can loose more fabric than you thought you would - and it still doesn't look straight.

If you purchase fabric locally, it's usually easy to see that the print of the fabric is off; it's not so easy when you buy on line.

So what I am going to say assumes:

1) that you have a frame to mount your quilt on or it will be sent to a long arm quilter:

2) You need about 10 - 11 + yards for the backing. That does not include binding.

3) a minimum of 40" WOF after selvages are removed.

What to do:

* Minimum to get 108" width of back is a 3 yard strip. (3 x 36" = 108").

* You will need 3 rows to sew together to get a back length greater than or equal to 108 inches.

* To add 8" more width for attaching the quilt backing to a frame, you need a minimum of 3.25 yards per strip. I would make it 3.5 yards to account for any straightening you need to do before or after you sew the backing together.

++Note: Alternatively, you could cut 2 separate 4 inch strips = to the length of the quilt +8 inches and attach each of them to the sides of the backing to get the extra 8 inch width recommended for quilting on a frame. This is useful when you discover you don't quite have enough fabric for the backing.

* Each of the 3 rows of 3 yards sewn horizontally (or vertically) has a WOF of 40+ inches.

* The 3 rows sewn together will equal 120 - 1 (for two seams: 1/4" x 4 = 1) = 119". (If your wof after removing selvages is more than 40', the length of the 3 pieces sewn together will be greater.)

* You need 108" + 8" or 116" for the length of the backing to attach the quilt to the frame. Measure and trim excess

* Two ways to Mount the quilt back on the frame

1) My preference: Attach the pieced backing on the frame so that the seams are parallel to the take up bar.
The extra two layers of fabric in the seam are then sewn evenly across the fabric, producing a smooth row of quilting. There is a slight bump across the quilt, but it is the same all the way across the quilt and will not affect quilting subsequent rows.

2) Attach the quilt so that the seams are perpendicular to the quilt top. When you roll the take up bar for the next row, a bump will appear where the extra layers of fabric are quilted. Since you will have two perpendicular seams, you wind up with two bumps. After a few rows, the bumps are obvious and they throw your quilting out of alignment. That makes it difficult to maintain your spacing for the quilt, which results in crooked quilted rows, quilting overlap where there should be none and gaps in quilting where there shouldn't be. At least that's what happens to me! I'm sure that many LAQ can do this and not have the bumps or are adept at working it into the quilting.

Last time I ripped fabric, I wound up having to buy more fabric because the fabric was printed wrong. No more ripping for me!