maria, did you actually do the math or did you just wiggle it around until it was wide enough to make it? how did you know it would be enough?

Thank you for the picture and the explanation that lead to the picture!

But wouldn't you need a really long piece of fabric? I understand if it's a 50" quilt, not a lot of waste. But if it's 60" or 70", seems like you'd lose a lot in those tiny triangle pieces...

Thanks again for the pics!

Whew!!! I read it and it made my head spin!!! I cannot get a mental picture of this either!!! :cry: :cry:

OK, just saw the diagram, and now I see how it works. Don't read the explanation on the internet...it is just very confusing!! :-D

I did the math to figure out how much fabric I needed, cut it, and then shifted the fabrics until I got to the size I wanted, about 6 inches larger than the size of my top. Of course, as my first time, I was a little insecure, but when I saw it working I was very pleased.

I guess it is not always necessary to do this technique. If your top is, for example, 80 x 80, you can buy about 180 inches of fabric (5 yards) 44 inches wide, cut it into two pieces 90 inches each, and sew it next to each other on the long side, and you have a back about 90 x 88, perfect to have extra all the way around. In this case, if you use his technique, you have a big waste. CLEAR AS MUD!!

Thanks, Katier825, I was having a hard time visualizing his instructions and your powerpoint charts are perfect. I appreciate that you did that.

Thank you. A picture is worth a thousand words!! For sure!

Is there a trick to cutting such a long piece of fabric on the diagonal? When you sew it back together, does it being on the bias cause problems?

Very interesting!

Here is another way that works great. I use this for method for most of my backings.

http://www.reddawn.net/quilt/backings.htm