Piecing the backing
 

Good Morning:
I am a newbie here and to quilting and I will be attempting to back my first quilt top. My fabric is not wide enough and I was wondering if it is proper to piece it together? There is not a pattern to the back so that is plus for me
Thanks
Alexe

Welcome Alexe from Southern CA! Sure you can piece your back!

Sure you can piece it. You can put different pieces together too. Just wait a minute. There will be people on here to help you with your problem. There is a ton of help on here.

I always piece my backs! I generally use 2 or 3 pieces of fabric from the top or matching fabrics. I don't like to have a seam smack dab in the middle of the back so I avoid that by using 3 pieces instead of 2. I often will integrate a leftover block from the front into the back also.

About the only 'sort of rule/guide' for piecing a back that I have - I try to avoid having a seam right in the center of the back - reason - supposedly it gets more stress with folding when it's in the center.

My reason - if it's 'way off center' - it looks planned - it it's 'almost on center, but not quite' - it looks like a goof-up to me. Also, if the fabric is such that seams are not obvious, I see no need to do the center panel with a strip on each side.

I love the idea of adding leftover blocks from the front to the back and piecing it. I did two of my backs that way. It gives the back some interest and looks custom to me. Have fun.

I used this method a lot when I first started out. Great way to use up yardage I didn't fancy as much any more:

http://www.maryquilts.com/off-center-4-patch-backing/

oops, this was in answer to the original poster. Sorry for my misplacement ;-)

Welcome!!! Its okay to piece your back. In quilting anything goes. Personally I don't piece mine unless I have to sew 2 of the same pieces together. I'm just not one for mixing my back pieces. But, I have seen many beautiful quilts that do. Have fun with it!

welcome from south Mississippi and I do it all the time....I have purchased a Santa door panel and appliqued it on to the back of a I spy Santa quilt. too cute

welcome from OK...
I piece my backings...and our guild just had Lerlene Nevaril http://www.lerlenenevaril.com/ and she wrote an entire book on pieced backings...go for it!