babyfireo4

Alright, girls and guys, I am in need of some serious innovation and information! I found a panel I absolutely love for the backing of my dads quilt. As i was headed to check-out I noticed it was fleece and went back, they do not have it in cotton. I got the fleece. it's 4' x 5'. I would like it a bit bigger but just don't think it would look right if I tried to put a boarder on it to make it bigger. I do have an idea for the quilt top, *Thanks to the helps of some of you in a previous post :D *

Now that you have a quick back story here are the questions I can think of to ask!

How does fleece work as a backing?
Would you even be able to put a boarder on it? if so could I do cotton or do I need to get more fleece so it matches?
How does it do with quilting?
Am I completely insane for going for this without doing this first!?!?!? :shock:

Insert any questions you can think of here
You are all so much more informed than me lol
If all else fails we can learn together :thumbup:

spartan quilter

I use fleece all the time for my backing, but, I also don't do FMQ. I do SID and not real dense quilting. If you are going to do FMQ, and do it densely, fleece is not a good choice. Fleece will not move as easily under the pressure foot as cotton does. But, since we live in a colder climate, my family loves the fleece for it's warmth. The panel is beautiful and I can see why you like it. I have also pieced fleece for backing and don't have trouble with that. I glued down the open seams, and then did the SID, so it wasn't so bulky to quilt. Hope this makes sense to you. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

dltaylor

I use fleece often on my childrens blankets. But I only do SID with it.

mom-6

Fleece can work quite well as the combination backing/batting for a quilt. I've either done SID or followed the outline of design elements in the panel. You can do a rather minimal amount of quilting and it will be sufficient.
I have discovered that if you want to add more fleece around the edges for a border you do need to be aware that there may be different degrees of stretch from one piece of fleece to the next and from the horizontal to the vertical and be sure to match them up accordingly. The one I had a problem with was a seemingly even plaid that was actually stretched out in one dimension and rippled when trying to match up horizontal and vertical stripes. I'm thinking I will change that border to a solid and eliminate the issue.

babyfireo4

Thanks for all the info everyone, You guys are so helpful :) Still debating if trying to piece a boarder on the flannel is a good idea. That stretching issue (which makes perfect since) seems a bit beyond the challenge I want to deal with lol