As I am now retired and living on a low fixed income, any fabric I buy goes on the quilt top where it will be seen. I usually buy sheets from the charity shops for the back, or if I'm lucky I may be able to find a large piece of fabric in one of them, I've even used cotton curtains from the charity shop and the curtain linings make great foundation squares for string quilts.

I like solid pieces of plain fabric or muslin for backing. If hand quilted, the are much more attraactive.(almost prettier than the pieced front)

I grew up in the South with both my Grandmother and Great Grandmother quilting in the house. I, of course, couldn't be bothered then, silly me, but anyway, I was grown before I ever knew anybody used anything for backing except muslin and I am sure the backs must have been pieced. So, now in my old age, I don't worry too much about backing.

what are the pro's and con's of using a sheet for a backing?. I haven't tried it yet, but have wondered. I use muslin backing, so far, with one exception, I added a strip to each side and the top, of a same fabric I used on the front of a quilt..
I like the muslin feel, it is soft and hopefully, wears great! I also found at Joanne fabrics, a roll of batting, 20 yards by 59-60" wide...it was 39.99, and with the 40% coupon they always have, it came out almost half price. It would be great to use for baby quilts, or throws...I bought the poly batting, because I like the light weight feel. This is a disapearing 9 patch, and because her favorite color is lime green, her mother asked me to add that color...this is as close as I could fine a lime green.
This is how it was suppose to look, and then how it looked, finished.

I'm glad for the discussion about sheets. I recently discovered that a nearby thrift shop has a huge variety of 100 percent cotton sheets. I picked up some to use as backing. For example, I got a king-sized sheet for about $2. It has some pastel designs on it and would be a great backing for a kid's quilt. The sheet looks brand-new or at the very least lightly used.

I truly never thought of it that way :oops:

One of my favorite quilt backs is one I pieced from the leftover fabrics that I used in the front. It's like a reversible quilt.

I buy beautiful quilt backs ... the fabric is between 108 and 120" wide. The highest price is $9.99/yd. The last time I went there they had them all for $5.99 to $6.99/yd. I bought a ton! Most of what they have is tone-on-tone marbled. They have some very rich colors, deep purples, greens, blues, etc.

And your secret source is??????

The store is called "FM Store" it is @ 1368 East Sunshine in Springfield, MO 65804.

It looks like a hole in the wall. But I get high quality quilting fabric AND the most beautiful quilt backs at very reasonable prices. I also bet my batting from him (it's a Dad and son business). They don't have a web site. The only way to shop there is in person.

Good Luck!

Well, its just a bit more than a day trip from Dallas! Darn. I do have many ancestors from that area and my mother was born there. Small world. Will make sure to drop by if I ever get up there. Thanks

Other places with very good prices on quilt backing are Thousands of Bolts, Mary Jo's, Over the Rainbow, Desperate Quilters to name a few.

I am used to making king size and always used one fabric for the back, but I am now usiing the left-overs from the front to piece the back, It doesnt look bad at all.

My mother always used a sheet on the back of her quilts and they looked really nice.
I have read where people are using whatever they have left from the front of the quilt and it's called "back art". It uses up the fabric left from one quilt so you can buy fabric for the next one! Sounds like a deal to me.

I piece my backs when I don't have a big enough backing for the whole quilt. I use a solid color and once its quilted you can't tell unless you look really, really close.

I often piece the backing so that I can use up fabrics that I have on hand. I do like to coordinate the back and the front. Ideally I like that anything I made, either a throw quilt, bed quilt, or table topper, can be flipped over and look nice. So I prefer prints over plain colors for backing, but I use both, just depends on what I have.

I try my best to match but am afraid to piece the back --------is it easy?

I don't mind pieced backings at all, I just hate to do it. More cutting and ironing! I try to use backing fabric, but even looking online, you can't always gauge the color until it's in your hands.

I buy several yards of a neutral 118" wide flannel that I back things with.

I love your backs. thank you for sharing and God bless. Penny

Love it. thank you for sharing and God bless. Penny

great job. thanks for sharing and god bless. Penny

Scrapy top. Scrappy back! Gotta get rid of this fab. Tired of seeing the same stuff but can't buy new till I get rid of old. What a bummer.

Katie825 I'm with you. I love your quilt backs. Thats what I like to do. I piece but plan my piecing. I love to buy large florals and scenic fabric that I don't want to cut in small pieces. Some of my favorite quilts have large pieces of wild fabric on the back. Also I send all my quilts out and I have to add 4 inches all around. If I'm buying new fabric for a large quilt that seems to be an expensive waste when I have soooooo much fabric in my fabric room!

I usually use muslin so I guess I'm not too picky :-)

Oh, I also like to use a sheet for the backing. I never have been too fussy about the back because my quilts were hurridly made for kids who were waiting for them. Now that the kids are grown, I can take my time and put some quality into them. Also, I have made every mistake in the book on these quilts. Talk about learning experiences!

It wasn't long ago I saw a picture of a quilt where the backing was as pretty as the top. It was pieced with coordinating colors and looked to me like it was totally reversible. For me, this would be overkill, but that's just me.

i piece my backs all the time, i consider the back of the quilt the same as the front, another side that may be used at any time. i guess i consider all of my quilts to be 'reversable' so the back is just as important as the front and is very seldom plain, or whole. if i do choose a whole cloth backing it is because i plan to do heavy quilting which makes the design instead of piecing.

For the patterns I design, I include a simple pattern for the back that hides any full length seams that would otherwise be there in a single fabric pieced back The maker can choose to use it or not, but it's there.

I have done both. Used fabric to match and pieced the backs as well.

I was thinking of going to a higher quality muslin and saving myself some money on some of the quilts I do. Not all of them, but some of the plainer ones would be fine.

I think you should do what you like! I was at a quilt show over the weekend and there were some beautiful quilts that had muslin for backing and I appreciated that because it did not draw you away from the original beauty: THE FRONT.

CKcowl, I bet your quilts are so beautiful. I never thought of whole cloth backing. That would work out great for me, I guess. I used to use muslin and then I found some sateen on sale. Like to use sheets on winter quilts, but not too high a thread count. I only machine quilt, and have liked the look when I can match the sheet to the color of the quilt.