I'm wanting to do an applique butterfly quilt and that's what I'm going to do. Find a light green leafy backing fabric then scatter butterflies about.

I'm wanting to do an applique butterfly quilt and that's what I'm going to do. Find a light green leafy backing fabric then scatter butterflies about.

Sheets are tempting, but they are usually woven with more threads to the inch and are a little harder to sew.

SewBatik's wide back fabrics are $19/yd and LangaLapu doesn't even have prices listed. YIKES!!! When I can purchase batiks for $6/yard for regular widths, I don't see an advantage to the wide backs, except for the seams, and they really aren't that big a deal.

JoAnns wide fabrics are about $9-$12 per yard. With the coupon they are 40-50% off. I guess that is why they have choices of different fabric widths and patterns. Then everyone can purchase what they like and want.

I've heard of using sheets but just read an article recently that said that sheet thread count is too high for quilting and because of that, the needle splits the threads and weakens the backing fabric. Just passing on what I read. I've never used sheets but try to buy the wide backing whenever I can find a color to coordinate with my quilt. For quilts for my church, we always by Moda cream or white muslin. It has a beautiful finish.

I may be able to answer some of your questions - if you take a quick visit to my site, www.christianlanequilters.com

My husband, Jim, and I are both full time quilters. We are also the people who own the copyright to our product and sell FatBacks®

FatBacks® is not a generic name. It is our name for wide width fabrics (from 108" wide to 120" wide) that is cut at three and one quarter yards long. It is priced at three yards. The extra one quarter yard is free.

A FatBack® is a quilt backing specifically cut for a queen sized quilt which is to be quilted on a longarm machine.

A "standard" queen sized batting is 90" x 108". A FatBack®
is at least 108" wide and is 117" long. The extra free quarter yard allows us to mount our work properly.

Customers can purchase wide fabrics from many sources, but we are the only sellers who can legally use the word of our product.

We had to contact Joanne's years ago, because they also thought our name was generic and were using it in their national sales flyers. They stopped immediately.

We sell our FatBacks® and we also sell wide fabrics in half yard increments to quilters and to customers for other purposes.

I can answer specific questions about products - check our our web-site first and ask me what you would still link to know!

I hope this will not be seen as an advertisement and as a simple explanation.

Wilma Cogliantry
Christian Lane Quilters
Berlin, CT

www.christianlanequilters.com

Sorry a little confused here what was mentioned about fatbacks? I thought we were discussing wide fabrics for backing being used for piecing. Did I miss something? :-)

Hi Pat,

This was the message from Susan49 that caught my eye:
"I haven't use the 108" much because I don't find colors that I like. I have not noticed them being thinner. Just the opposite. They are usually very stiff. Some of our quilt shops carry fat backs. JoAnn have some. Be care at JoAnn because a lot of times the fabric shiffs as it is rolled on the bolt and they cut exactly on the measurement. By the time you square up the two ends you are short. I am using a longarm and need to square things up."
Susan49

I wanted to do two things:
I thought I might be able to answer some of the specific questions about the deliberate differences between regular widths fabrics and the wide goods meant for backing quilts and the reasons why. And, why they should or should not be used in quilt tops.

I started quilting in 1967. My husband, Jim, and I have been full time professional quilters for eleven years and we've quilted over 4,000 quilts from our customers. I like to share what I've learned. We've been selling wide fabrics for ten years and I have a lot of knowledge about how to work with the fabrics.

I also wanted to protect our product's name. JoAnn stores sell a lot of fabric from different manufactures. I don't. The wide goods that we cut into FatBacks® are not the kinds of goods that JoAnn's stocks. There is a reason for the price differences.
Whenever the word pops up in any form I try to respond and share knowledge.

I apologize for misunderstanding the topic.

Now, off to quilting! Wilma

I can understand why you want to protect your product's name, Wilma.