I just made a quilt for my daughter for Christmas and used fleece on the back and had no trouble what so ever. I did pin it with safety pins alot. I didn't free motion either. I just stitched in the ditch. She loves the fleece backing.

i am so sad to see so many of you hating fleece and insisting it can not be quilted...i love using fleece and machine quilt it all the time. if you 'test' the fleece to see which direction has the most stretch then you can lay it out (i put it so the most stretch is side-to side..not top to bottom) smooth it WITH OUT STRETCHING it...if using batting put that next smoothed nicely,,,if no batt then the top...smoothed nicely...lots of basting now...either with pins or needle and thread...i thread baste...it is alot easier for me to use a needle and thread than closing and re=opening all those pins.
start in the center, work your way out to the sides, moving up...moving down as you go. one thing that helps is if you can (ease) the force of the pressure foot. my machine i can set for heavy fabrics or light fabrics...if you can relieve the pressure the foot puts on the sandwich it will go a bit better.

Flannel is the only way to go.

I have used fleece a lot and have had no problems with it stretching. I've done SID and free motion and had not problems whatsoever. I buy my fleece at Joann's...don't know if that makes a difference or not.

I use fleece off and on. I usually pin it the same way I do when I use flannel as a backing, (about every 5") before I quilt it on my regular machine.

I too use already made throws with the micro fleece, love the 50 x 60 inch size for a lap throw.The edges are already finished. I use the Yellow Brick Road pattern by Atkinson, use the 6 fat quarter size and instead of putting borders on the finished top, I turn under the edges 1/4 inch, spray with starch and iron well. I then center this on top of the fleece throw and pin well, stitch around the two center blocks first, (row 3, blocks 2 and 3), with a serpentine stitch, (wavy stitch) and my walking foot, then stitch around the outside edge of the quilt top to applique the whole top down. You have instant borders because you've centered it, and it's warm and a good size. Love to pick up the throws when they're five dollars. Of course, I don't call them quilts, because by definition a quilt has three layers, but it's my latest favorite thing to do for a fast and fairly easy gift!! Soft and cuddly!!

You could adapt this to any quilt pattern, just turn under the outside edges and center it on your throw. I've even bought King size and cut it up to fit my needs, though I had to finish the edges of the fleece by folding under twice and using a zig zag stitch and my walking foot.

Wow. I've used fleece on the back of a number of quilts - 3 T-shirt quilts and several other for family members (lap sized, not bed sized) and have had NO trouble with it. In fact, I thought that it laid much flatter and smooter than cotten when I am spraying the sandwich. I alwasy use spray - never baste or pin, and I've been very happy with the results. Maybe the difference is that on all the quilts I've used fleece I've just done SID quilting - no free motion.

Thank you all so much, I have learnt a couple of things I didn't know and will try, I haven't left the foot up as I wasn't doing FMQ, and I didn't realise the fleece may have a stretch one way and not another., most of the other suggestions I have tried but it just will not work. But.. I will try once again with the above in mind, if not it will have to be hand.. I have never quilted by machine before, everything I do is usually by hand. I just don't like being beaten, especially by a machine!!!!

this is completely off the current subject, but I've noticed your avatar several times before (it's gorgeous by the way) & I always think of the OBW author's suggestion not to use a piece of fabric with lots of colors in it. You should send her a picture of yours, it's absolutely lovely.

I just backed a baby quilt using Northern Lights fleece from Hancocks. I'm not sure what it's made of but it looks and feels different then the 100% poly fleece. It's not slippery at all, in fact it was hard to move my quilt around while doing the machine quilting. Also every thread and tiny piece of fabric that was on my sewing table got stuck to it...it was like a magnet! It looks nice now that it's finished but I'll never use it again.