Just wondering what experienced quilters use for their backings.. I see some beautiful ones on this board.. are they wide material or pieced.. do you use flannel? I have done the flannel and pieced but never purchased the wide for large quilts... just curious... thanks in advance for your answers....

I use yardage , but I have been known to piece a backing too.

If my quilt is 40" in one direction, I will just buy enough yardage so it doesn't have to be pieced. That being said, I have only bought wide quilting backing once. For the bigger quilts, I like a pieced backing. It is just another way to get more colors and designs in the quilt!

I like the backing to have some connection to the front of the quilt so I use yardage that I piece together. It doesn't have to be fabric that was in the front, just something colorwise that works. For baby quilts I like to use polka dot fabric where some of the dots mimic the colors on the front. When I have a large quilt quilted by a longarm quilter I try to use wide backing so there are no seams in the back. I buy neutral colored wider backing on my trips to Lancaster PA where I can purchase it cheaper than locally.

I like the look of backing pieced with different fabrics and/or blocks but for gift quilts I make the backing all one fabric because non quilters don't appreciate the mixed backing like we quilters do.

I use yardage that I'm no longer enraptured with enough to make a top out of it. There always seems to be enough scraps left over that some of the yardage still makes it to the front of scrap quilts, so I've definitely got my moneys worth and nothing is wasted.

I'm not stuck on one type of backing, but I do like to at least color coordinate them with the front. I've used sheets (oh the horror :-), I've used left-overs from piecing the front, I've used wide fabric, I've used flannel and even fleece on a small kiddie quilt. I kinda make up my own rules as I go, works best for me.

If it is a large quilt and I am going to have a Long Arm pro quilt it .. I purchase a wide backing in a relatively nuetral color and pattern ... as the work of the Long Arm Pro makes the back look like a whole cloth quilt.... So its like two quilts in one .

I buy wide backing from Marshall Dry Goods
I also piece a back when I have fabrics I want to use up
I've also used a lightweight cotton blanket when I'm not going to have batt in the quilt

Yes.

What I use depends on the size of the quilt, what I have on hand, the purpose of the quilt, and the look I want.

I do like piecing my backs with some extra blocks from the front and with a place for a message [not the label.]

However, some quilts just seem to need the wider backing on them.

I let my quilts 'talk to me' about how to finish them.

ali

I like the back to be in one piece. I've had a few problems when bulky seam-intersections happened to in line front & back. I FMQ so I will use 40" fabric, sheeting or 108" fabric.