Purchasing 108" backing fabric for your front sashing.
 

Does anyone purchase quilt backs to use for their sashing in front. When I want something other than plain white, I have taken to look and see what is available in quilt backing. Do any of you do this?

No, I use regular 44" quilting fabric for sashing. I've always found widebacks to be very limited in colors and styles, not to mention the cost and what a pain it is to wrangle that much fabric in washing, pressing, cutting, etc.

What do you find to be the advantage in using wideback for sashing?

That's one of the ways I use my backing scraps. If the scrap is big enough, I've used it for binding or borders,
too.

Mostly when I would like a solid like fabric with some texture to it. Especially in the light cream color. Actually, I should say for background fabric even more so. The grunge fabric would be one. Also a white on white or cream on white fabric with a small flower or leaf design as examples.

When I need to buy fabric the first thing I look for is the wide backing selections. I find that it can be so much cheaper than buying enough of the regular width. I have used the wide fabric for my piecing, for sashing, for binding, and wait for it, also backing sometimes on the same quilt, and sometimes spreading that wide piece though several quilts.

I have been using a lot of white lately, and actually just recently bought a few yards of 120" backing in snow white. I'll be using it in multiple quilts. When good fabric is at times over 10.00 a yard for a 44" piece, I will definitely pay 12 or 14.00 a yard for a wide piece. $14 for one yard of wide fabric is a lot better than $20 or $30 for for 2 or 3 yards of 44" fabric.

Keepsake Quilting has a very large selection of 108" wide fabrics, either by the yard or in 3-yard bundles. Prices are good. I like the options of using wide fabrics for backing, for sashing, in blocks, so many choices.

I use the excess backing for piecing in other projects. So using it for sashing would be no problem for me

Right now, I am using wide back fabric for piecing a rolling waves top. It was much more economical since the pattern called for 6 yards for this colour. I do always wash it first, and have found it is easier to work with if I cut off a section--in this case, just over 14 inches at a time, which multiplies well with the size of the pieces needed.

I purchase wide backs and use the extra as blender fabrics on the front. No problems.

I used a batik backing for a paper pieced star quilt I did, It was the perfect colors for the border, I also used it for the backing. You might want to consider, washing the backing before using it in a pieced quilt as I have had some backings shrink quite a bit, some don't, some do. I now mostly use yardage because of quality issues in the backings and I have found it hard to tell the quality sometimes as it seems some of them use more stiffeners in them. Maybe if I had used more of them, I would know which ones to get and which ones to avoid.

Is "sashing" the borders? If yes, I mostly use 45", pieced diagonally, but I do save my left over 108" backing and use it as borders if it matches the top. In fact, I just finished a top where the borders are just that, left over 108" backing.

If the color is right, I use it regardless of the width. I have only had an issue once with a wide fabric, and it was the fault of the person who cut it. When I spread it out on the table, it was more like an hourglass shape than a rectangle. I barely got the yardage I needed out of it. Because of the shape, I think I lost about 6 inches side to side.

I think the wide widths are more cost effective if you are paying MSRP. I also like them for borders because there's no seaming required. I don't have any issues using wide widths.

Not for ssashing or borders but for piecing. I bought a purple/black checked backing for a couple backings, borders and binding. I'm still using it for piecing as I'm getting down to the last bit of it. Think I might have ordered around 10 yards when it was on sale back then and this was before 2018 as I haven't ordered any fabric since Nov 2018.

I often choose wide backings for using on fronts, blocks, borders, whatever. There are literally hundreds of great wide backing fabrics on the market now. I get most of mine from fabric dot com but I know there are other places with good selections too. Our little local quilt shop carries some beautiful wide batiks along with some prints and solids.m

So far I have used the backing and folded it over the front for the binding. But I haven't used it for sashing but I can't see why not!

yes and no ... some backing fabrics aren't the same as their 45" siblings. I bought a grunge backing once that was had the same name as a 45", but it had a totally different feel. It was not soft like the 45" .

I don’t buy wide backs specifically for use on the front of a quilt. But I do try to position the quilt on the backing so I have the least amount of waste. What’s left when the excess is trimmed away I use wherever I can: binding, sashing, borders, piecing! I especially feel lucky when I can manage binding or borders out of it because you get nice long strips.

I purchased way to much of a 108. Gold tone pattern. Definately a "what was I thinking purchase." Now I'm pretending the back is really the front. Muted color so works great as a neutral for my scrappy quilts. I bought both sides so I'm using both sides...lol:rolleyes:

I have used the 108" wide backing for piecing on the front of my quilts with no problems. It's nice because it provides continuity between the front and the back of the quilt too.

Often I find the wide back thinner then regular quilting Cotten. It is not related to cost as far as I can tell. Anyone else find this as well?

Yes, it is true that for many of the quilt backs produced are of inferior quality. I have gotten a handful that seem to be of equal or close to equal quality of the regular size. I was going to purchase some grunge in the 108" size in hopes of it being similar, but according to one responder here, it apparently is different.

For backings I use mostly 108 fabric from MarshalslDryGoods.com, and sashing depending on what Im making. I was just checking out MDG and they had over a hundred and seventy Panels to work with, all kinds.

I like Marshall Dry Goods. I have purchased batting and fabrics from them and have always been satisfied.

My favorite white is Kona Snow, and I always buy it in a wide backing for every area of my quilt since it is cheaper by buying it that way. I also appreciate not having to piece strips as often since it is so long. I've never found it to be of a different quality from the 42" yardage. I buy it on Amazon.

My favorite place to buy other wide backing is Memory Lane Quilting. I like their price, quality, variety of patterns:
www.memorylanequilting.com
(330)468-2831