Flat felled vs conventional seam
 

Usually I make a backing with 108" fabric, but this time I couldn't find anything even close to matching my quilt top. When this happens, do you usually join the widths with a conventional seam or do you flat fell it? Or is there some other way that I've missed?

Thanks!

:D

I use a regular seam but use 1/2" seam allowance for the back. You don't want to make anything so thick that you can't quilt over it.

Ditto the regular seam, 1/2" seam allowances.

Be sure if you are sending to a longarmer or are quilting on your own longarm that you orient the seam so it falls the width of the loading. If it falls vertically (so it rolls up on itself as you go), it will make it more difficult to roll evenly since the seam area will keep getting thicker and thicker as you roll.

I do the same as above, use a 1/2" or a bit wider seam allowance. If I need a longer vertical seam, I will divide things up so that they don't end up over about 2' long. Anything longer will give grief when loading on the LA. Horizontal seams don't cause any problems.

I do the same, 1/2" seam, pressed to one side. Why would you want a flat felled seam, when it's entirely enclosed in the quilt? If you are concerned about the seam coming apart, you could stitch two parallel lines.

I just use a conventional seam with a wider seam allowance pressed open for less bulk

1/2" seam, trimmed with pinking shears and pressed open.

Thanks, everybody. I don't machine quilt, so I never considered that aspect of it. Nor did I think about the flat fell winding up INSIDE the quilt--I'd have put it on the outside from force of habit (think jeans here). But, now that you mention it, a wider seam like 1/2" or 5/8" does make perfect sense and is a whole lot simpler to do! Especially if it is pinked!

TY!

Rusty

As I get older, I find it gets harder to manage large chunks of fabric. So if I am using 42-44 inch yardage to make a quilt back, I cut the fabric the length I need, leaving the selvages on. Then I line up the selvages and stitch my seam about 1.5 inches in. Then I take my scissors and trim the selvages off. I find this easier then trying to the trim the selvages straight with a long pice of fabric as my cutting table is only six feet long and is the basement with the unfinished concrete floor. I leave the edge selvages on and find when I load the quilt, it is easy to make sure it goes on straight, these selvages get cut off when I trim the backing after done quilting.

I prefer to use the extra wide backs, but they have not always been available or out of my price range so have been piecing backs for many years. At least one of the ladies in my Tuesday group doesn't like the extra large backs at all -- they are "too big" even for her large projects and so she always pieces the back.

From the old days I was always taught to avoid seams right down the middle of the quilt due to folding and considerations like that. If your fabric was wide enough that you only needed two widths, you had one width that was full down the middle, and then the other you split into two pieces, with one half width on either side of the full widths. Back in the days of 36" wide yardage, it was three full widths of the fabric going horizontally for the typical length.

As the others have said, yes, 1/2" seams. I press open as I always do. I always use a rather small stitch as someone who presses open.

As time has gone on, I've begun incorporating more fabric/seams in the back, often including orphan blocks or fabrics that are related to the top but maybe too large a scale or other issues. They work/hold up just fine. I do prefer less quilting and a fluffier batting than is currently in favor -- perhaps that works in my favor :)

I remember my mom doing this. That must be 50-60-years ago! She's been gone a long time now. Thanks for reminding me. I think that's what I'll do with mine--a full width across the center and 2 narrower ones across the sides, so that the backing is horizontal. I do remember Gram telling me the backing would wear better without a center seam, so there must be something to that, too.

It amazes me all the old, half-forgotten memories that quilting stirs up. That may be the best part of quilting, don't you think?

:D


I prefer the wide backings but will piece when I have to. Usually use a wider seam but not always.

ah yes. The 36” wide fabric. We called it “material” and went to the “material” store where all the bolts were behind the counter and the ladies took them down for consideration and sometimes lost patience with indecision. Then they used that machine to measure as they pulled it through and nicked it and they tore it.

A flat-felled seam would also add bulk and maybe a bit of stiffness that could make the quilt less snuggly.

Yes, that's exactly what I started to do a year ago and love the security it gives me! My seam allowance is now 3/8"!! Happy me!

3/8" seam pressed to the sides - selvages off, of course.

Iceblossom - off topic - What are you using for batting? I like a fluffier one and am having trouble finding one I like. Polyester is fine with me.

I went to look at my roll of batting and it still has the tags on it. It was a commercial roll (so 25 yards which is about 6-8 quilts), I bought it when I had access to my friend's long arm. I got it on a great sale from an on-line discounter (It was under 200 delivered), but this seems to be the manufacturer:

https://airlitemanufacturing.com/the...ting-on-rolls/

I judged it by ounces/length, this is 12 oz per 100 inches.

I was very happy with it, down to one last top remaining :) Not sure what I will do next. A commercial roll is a lot of batting to commit to, and store, and I was lucky that it worked out for me.

Not Iceblossom, but lately Poly-Fil Extra Loft 100% polyester. So far I've had excellent results.

:D