I did frame (with glass) one large quilted wallhanging for my DH. Although it does protect it from getting dirty, it was costly and is HEAVY! Don't think I would do it again unless it was a very small one. :!:

Well, this is why I don't even consider entering my quilts in a quilt show. I get so impatient. I start off being really neat then I get to just wanting to get it finished so I can go to another project so the birds nests and dangling threads appear. I just trim everything as good as possible and go on from there. Busy backing patterns and matching bobbin thread help make things look neater, also.

So, Dottie, when do we get to see this artwork?? It sounds gorgeous. Who cares what the back looks like, and what the Quilt Police think? Put a back on it, enter it in the show, and let the real quilters enjoy it.

Thank you all for great ideas and encouragement..I did a search and thought Id share..It said you can quilt, embroider, put stuff all over the front, when done playing put on middle and backing then quilt it..All you did to the top alone is considered embellishment..not quilting..going through all layers is quilting...thank you again..dottiej

<a href="http://www.generations-quilt-pattern...t-backing.html">Machine Quilting without a quilt backing</a>
this is the site..very interesting

hope this one works for machine quilting without a quilt backing....
http:www.generations-quilt-patterns.com/machine-quilting-without-a-quilt-backing.html

soon as i get a picture of it and figure out how to import it here...give me a few days im very slow..

You need to check the rules of the quilt show you are entering. Some of the bigger ones specifically say, you may not use a false back.
Good luck.


[quote=dottiej] can I put a false back on it?? ......

Sorry for the frustration. You can be proud of yourself for taking on a new dimension of your hobby. It'll get better from here. I've never tried anything like this.

If you frame it you can cover the back of the frame with brown paper like they do at the professional framing shops. No one will see the back then. Make sure it is archival quality paper.

Skip the glass if you decide to frame it. Glass can cause condensation underneath and that can rot the quilt over time. It's best left 'open-faced' so the air can get to it. If you do go with glass, make sure there is a gap between the glass and the quilt.

Do any of those things you suggest and no one will be the wiser.Before you go to the trouble, however, it would be good if you could look at the back of some of the world renown tapestries. It is a real eye-opener to see what a knotty mess they are at the back.

it is a work of love....i would give it to someone who would appreciate it, as a first try, then practice practice practice, and try again next year.........

Why not just hang it with a sleeve. No one will see the back.

if it is a wall hanging size - put a felt backing on it and pink the edges

Hang it up. Love it. Enjoy it. If anybody pulls it out to look at the back you can tell them to mind their own damn business and if they do it again, you'll break their fingers! (grin) It's your quilt, be free to love it as it is. Our friends love us as we are. . . warts and all. . . and if they don't they aren't true friends.

This is what I'd do too- What they can't see they can't judge

I think art quilts need to have a backing put on them after you have finished with the thread work, embellishing etc..as you are doing quite a bit of this after the quilting is finished.

This is exactly what I was going to suggest. I have every intention of doing an art quilt soon but have not yet done one. I've read several books though and their method of dealing with the messy back is to layer the top and batting, do all the necessary quilting and fabric anchoring there and then add the backing fabric. Do some basic outline quilting (often with monofilament in the top thread) and then bind.

As far as shows requiring the quilting to be the same on the top as the back, that makes no sense and seems downright anal to me. For an art quilt with loads of thread painting, it makes perfect sense to wait on the backing fabric until the end. Even if you're a perfect FMQ'ing artist, the back will look messy.

don't know what the "horrible" back looks like, but is there a way you can embelish it so you have a two sided piece? maybe your thread snarls can turn into flowers with button middles or something. look at it like you looked at clouds when you were a kid. you might even find yourself adding threads to complete a shape. sometimes the crazy side is worth saving.

I've seen many wall hangings with velvet backs...

I would put another back to it.

Ditto

I'd remove the current binding, reback & rebind :)

Maybe you could applique a couple of birds on a new backing and a saying...like.."Egrets...I've had a few!" Sorry, just couldn't pass that one up!

I am in favor of putting a new back on it and using it as a family quilt! Your family, and you, will love it!

http://www.generations-quilt-pattern...t-backing.html
(previous poster's link)

If it's ever going to need laundering, do the loops need to be stabilized, so the front stitches don't loosen up from all the loops on the back? ...thinking some kind of fusible.

Welcome from Ms.

youve got to be kidding..this back is never coming off even if i wanted to i couldnt..it is definately there for life ..It is hanging on by threads/glue/ yarn/ embroidery thread/ millions of knots/acrylic paint/every kind of fusable ever made...the only thing i didnt use was staples and nails...but im not done yet..Im still embellishing..by looking at the front you could never imagine the back.I.Like the reversible quilt idea..white with trupunto egret..would be able to put binding on but may have to glue the rest down as it is becoming difficult to put a needle through..maybe i could still use those staples???..There are lots of good ideas here to ponder... I have learned megamuch with this quilt ..I think next one will be at least bendable ..Dottiej

WASH IT??????????????? OMG...Think id have to hose it down..but i also used watercolor and some oil pastels on front..

I made a quilt for my DGD. It was to be for her graduation from HS. It was a Tesellation quilt which I had never done. Advanced the mag. pattern said. Took me 3 weeks of putting it together, ripping out.........anyway I got it on the LA, quilted it about 2/3rd's of the way, looked pretty on the front. I decided to look at the back. I screamed! I was sick to my stomach.......looked just like yours. I was already 6 months late getting it to her. My DH spent his entire Christmas vacation ripping it out for me and I took it to another quilter to quilt. It has sat for the last 3 years waiting for me to bind it. Finally finished it, and gave it to her last week. She is entering her last year in college.........I hated that quilt from Hell. But I love her and so does my DH. Otherwise I would have thrown in into the garbage!!

I was the frameshop mgr @ a MICHAEL'S for 8yrs. I framed lots of things including sm quilts & quilt blocks.It can be very expensive(labor intense). here's a few pointers: Do you want glass? just like cross stitch, it needs to breathe. If you want glass, be sure it doesn't lay on your quilt. This can be accomplished by any/or combination of the following shadowboxing, spacers, at least a double acid free mat. . make sure your frame is deep enough. If I was doing it, I would take 1 stitch, about every hand width, tie it off. some perfer to do a continuous stitch. you would be stitching this to acid free matboard. then finish by attaching that to acid free foamboard(double sided tape). any frame shop should be able to sell you acid free products- you'll be in oversize 40x60(reg matboard is 32x40) so be prepared for sticker shock! Many stores sell sectionals, that might work for you, as your size is NOT standard. REMEMBER to use ACID-FREE products, it's very important!

Your local frame shop could make a custom frame for it, or you can go to Home Depot and buy the materials to make your own custom frame. Just remember to put something between the wood and the fabric to avoid deterioration from the acids in the wood.

Yep..I sure can relate..Ill bet your dtr loved it..

THAT FRAMED QUILT IS BEAUTIFUL!!!

I have got to look up tapestries..sounds like my kinda people not the world renown part, but the knotty mess sounds really nice...dottiej,

WOW..I like this and agree completely..Dottiej

Sorry about the back of your quilt. Have you posted a photo yet? The front of course! :)

I really like your thinking.....dottiej

not yet but i will post one of the front in the next couple days..will even post picture of the back if i can get the true magnificance of it..dottiej