I know this is a crazy question, but I wonder if anyone ever quilts on the back of your quilt. The reason I'm wondering about this is because when I quilt heart or flower motifs I
like the puffy look on the front of my quilt. Does this make any sense?( Sorry if it sounds silly-new to quilting)

You can do it either way. It is a personal preference.

It's not a crazy question to me. I was thinking about asking the same thing. I have some backing material with swirls on it, and I thought I might use it to do my FMQ. I wondered, too, if quilting from the back made sense.

I've quilted from the back to FMQ around appliques that I had on the back. Some people use a specific print on the back and FMQ around the design.

I have hand quilted on the back when it is easier to mark the quilting lines.

Yes, & have tried it before and have succeeded with the results.
It does not sound silly because everyone has their style or preference for completing their quilts.

That's something that I've never thought about!

great question! I might just have to try that next time!

yes you can do it either way.

Benartex even sells quilt backing 108 inches with the quilt design lines already marked.

you just quilt from the back following the lines and when your done you toss it in the machine and the lines wash away.

here's a link to the product

http://benartex.fabric-discount1.us/..._The_Yard.html

I haven't tried quilting from the back but my quilting buddy does. She often choses a backing with an easy design to follow and follows the design. She quilts on an older Kenmore machine and her work is nice!

What a great idea.

cool. haven't thought about it, but i can see applications where it could be easier or better done from the back

I do it all the time, especially for children's quilts. I buy a big plaid for the back, or a coordinating checkerboard/patchwork, and follow the lines.

I sometimes buy the bigger print for the back and the smaller for the front for piecing, then follow the shapes on the back. It ties the two together.

I have not done it but if you have a nice overall design on your backing fabric, it would be easy to do outline quilting from the back. Also, if you do any bobbin work, you have to work with the top down.

That sounds like a good idea. I'm going to try that.

I have quilted from the back when I have a nice fabric pattern and want to use it to do FMQ, & have no real plan for the front.

On my next quilt, i'll do that quilt it from the back.
Glad you ask that question.

Got me thinking...could one not mark the backing with washaway pen before you sandwich the quilt together ...just like the one they sell...I may try this on a small baby quilt...

A friend did this because the front of the quilt was too distracting for her to quilt the usual way. She had a good story to tell at our guild's show & tell, for sure.

ali

I haven't hand quilted from the back, but I frequently FMQ that way. On a child's quilt to be given away, I'll use a fabric with an overall design on the back. My favorite is to FMQ in a loopy-dee-loop design around polka dots. :D

I'm really glad you brought up this topic. I bought some of the Benartex backing that has a design for learning how to FMQ on my domestic machine.
Thanks for all the great responses! Now I'm going to tackle it lol

Have done it many times; our shop even used to carry fabric designed for this purpose.

Jan in VA

I haven't tried quilting from the back.

I do it with fleece backing. Otherwise, I get too many puckers even if I use a lot of basting.

I love the idea of using designs on the backing fabric for quilting lines, but I'd have to be super mindful to get the back straight. My backings have a bit of a wonky tilt to them on occaision. :oops:

Haven't done it yet, but I do intend giving it a try.

Works for me!

I do it either way for a number of reasons, when I first started FMQ I learnt by having a motif to approx follow on the back, one of my favourites was a Butterfly fabric I found which looked lovely on the front.

Never tried the back, especially hand quilting try as I might the back stitches never seem as big as front??

never tried this but now will as i have often wondered about it

it sounds like a great idea! i have never fmq'd, or any other quilting for that matter, so quilting from the back with lines to follow sounds very doable and not so scary. thanks!

Most of my creative inmates prefer to quilt from the back of their quilts. The reason is because we usually use a solid fabric for backings, so they have an easier time marking & seeing the designs on the solid. It took me a while to accept it as it was so unusual. Now I almost expect to see it. These guys think so differently from the way we do that their quilting designs are wonderful when they let their imaginations take over. I have one Native American quilter who just does marvelous quilting & designs. He is always surprising me. There is one cell block where one inmate comes up with a unique design & all the others copy it! :-) I don't mind as the designs are good!

Whatever is your preference is the way you should quilt YOUR quilt! There are no quilt police!!! Go for it.

I would have never thought of doing it, but since reading the comments, especially about the backing fabric with quilting designs printed on it, I think its a great idea, I'm going to try it!

Thanks everyone for all your input. You've been very helpful. Now I don't feel quite so silly.LOL :P

Thanks Fancy-Fabric for the link. I'll have to give this a try. :P

I'm thinking of marking the next one on the back, as the front has too many darks. I find it impossible to find markings on dark, no matter what I use. So I'm going to try it soon.

My first FMQ was a baby quilt with raw edge applique on the front. This distracted me so much that I finally turned it over to quilt it so I couldn't see what was freaking me out. Turned out great, glad I did it!

My daughter both marked and quilted from the back. Her quilt turned out great! Go for it!~

I have a question about FMQ. I am new to quilting as you will be able to tell by my question. My feed dogs don't drop down. Is there a way to cover them to FMQ? I really love my machine so don't want to buy a new one.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Diane

Who knew? After spending 45 minutes pinning the top, back and batting only to find out I had pinned the top with the back on top I started all over. I could have just left it and quilted it that way.