Hi I am new to quilting. I am making a cotton quilt top for a friend but I want it to be soft to snuggle with. Can I make the backing flannel or fleece. Will that look ok or will it pucker when quilted? Has anyone ever did that?

You bet you can. then you don't need any battening

You can do it, but you have to pre-wash the flannel, maybe several times. It will shrink differently from the cotton.

I do use flannel for backing with an all cotton top. I use batting between. As NP3 said, do wash your flannel a couple of times to get the shrinkage out of the way before hand. It makes the quilt so snuggly!

You can use either. Many people have more difficulty with fleece because of stretching, but it quilts nicely on a longarm.

I use flannel on the back of a lot of my kid's and baby quilts. Ok.. even adult quilts.. lol..
I haven't always pre-washed the flannel and it just made for a wrinklier quilt on top. I liked the look. It also shrunk the whole quilt about 3 inches, which was fine with me.
But I do think next time I will pre shrink.
And i use thin batting with it.

I use flannel a lot as I have a big stash of Chanteclair yardage. It is, after all, nice cotton with just a wee bit of cush.

I use flannel on most of my quilts, as I love the suggle feel. But, as others have said, make sure you either wash it or soak it in really hot water before use, as it does tend to shrink. I usually soak mine, then line dry

I use flannel as a backing all the time and I leave out the batting if it's a kid's quilt that is intended to be carried around a lot. If I want it fluffier, I use batting. If you pin and quilt it together in sections, you shouldn't have a problem with puckering.

I also do fleece and flannel quilts which don't need batting. Here's the posting http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-52843-1.htm.

I've never done cotton with fleece but I'm sure it can be done with no problem.

I'm currently hand quilting a top with a flannel backing. I washed it 4 times before it finally stopped shrinking. I asked a lot of questions before I chose the back. The only complaint I have is it is a bit different to quilt through. It sure keeps me warm as I quilt it! It does work fine and I have several quilts for my kids that have flannel backs. Some with batting, some without, all very warm.