btiny36

Morning to everyone. I don't recall a time where I have questioned myself on how much backing I need for a quilt. I'm quilting it with my longarm. This quilt is my friends quilt who has just recently gotten the quilting bug. So she has me questioning myself on the amount you need for backing. Now mostly I like at least 6" all the way around for overage. Her quilt is 66wx77L. So I got out my quilting calculator and it tells me that at 43" wide material I would need at least 5Yards and that's making the seam right down the length of the backing....(which I hate ugg) and when she brought the quilt/backing/batting to me and checked and mentioned that there wouldn't be enough backing as she only had 2Meters + 5 inches...

So am I wrong and she is right that she has enough.....I told her that you need room to make the backing square and take off the selvages and have at least 4" for overage (I prefer 6")...

Thanks for any advice...

GingerK

Well, she has enough in length. If her quilt top is 66x77 and you want a minimum of 4 inches extra, the backing piece must be at least 74x85. 2 meters and 5 inches equals 85 inches (1 meter is approximately 40 inches) It would depend on how wide the fabric is. If it is only 45 inches wide, you and she have a problem.

btiny36

The width of the material is only 45 and when you square up the edges there isn't enough 2 meter + 5in = 83" (39+39+5=83) so I wouldn't even have enough for the length....what I need as I figured it would be: 66w+8(overage on both sides) + 77L+8in(overage on length) = 74x85 which is correct....but a meter is only 39inches at best depending how straight they cut it and this backing is only 45 inches...there just isn't enough for squaring and overage....not to mention when the backing is pieced together I have to remove the salvages and the seam down the middle should be at least 1/2" uggggggg and she is quite upset that she figures because the quilt shop told her that is all she needed was 2 meters + 5 inches...I'm having a hard time convincing her that she doesn't have enough....

feline fanatic

No you are not wrong, she does not have enough backing.

Converting the 2 meters to inches (I rounded at 39" per meter) + the 5" she has a total length of 83" (plus about a half inch given my rough and tumble conversion). If she cuts that in half she will have two pieces of fabric measuring 41.5 x 43. No matter which way she sews these two pieces together she will be short.

I just tried it using an online calculator for the diagonal method and she is way short there too.
http://www.multi-patch.com/html/fabric_calc.php

She will need to get more fabric and add an additional seam to her backing or get all new backing with an absolute minimum of 4.25 yards (or 4 meters which will give you the extra you prefer to have as well) The extra fabric will be for you to test tension on the sides and attach to your leaders. She will have extra to add to her stash once she cuts it off after quilting. Might even be enough to do the binding.

PS I suspect the LQS forgot to double the length of fabric which is what is needed to get the 43" wide fabric to be wide enough. Had she bought wide back fabric (108" wide) 2 meters would have been ample. If she doesn't believe you, tell her to go back to the shop she bought the fabric from and have them explain exactly how to cut and piece her 2 meter x 45" WOF to back a quilt that measures 66" x 77"

quilterpurpledog

If the fabric is 45 inches wide, you are short of fabric width by 23 inches (that would be 6 inches header on either side. The 85 inch length is about right (40inches X2 plus the 5" makes 85 inches). The quilt is 77 long and adding the 8 inches makes 85 which is shorter than what you would like to have. So essentially, for the width, she needs another half width of fabric. So, another 3/4 yard of fabric split in the center and stitched together end to end would add the necessary width. But, the question is whether or not so many seams on the back is acceptable. Another question to be considered is the intended binding. Of course, there are other alternatives-a pieced section made from blocks or strips from the front. I like pieced backs, but I know that is a personal thing.

btiny36

Thanks everyone...not sure why I even questioned myself...Its not my first quilt that I have quilted...and I know what it's like to run short at the end of quilting have had to piece more backing on while on the longarm...not something I care to repeat as I have done it twice..it's doable but I prefer not to have that happen....I'm going to let her read these comments here when she comes tonight....I'm not even comfortable with only 4" of overage..I like to have 6" but she is quiet upset about this and all she is seeing is the $ signs..but that's the nature of quilting.....and her being soooo new to quilting isn't helping.....

Peckish

What a bummer.... the quilt is just barely too big to use John Flynn's diagonal backing technique.

http://www.multi-patch.com/html/diag...calculator.php

I think your friend will have to purchase more fabric.

letawellman

The only thing I can figure is that the quilt shop heard "36 x 77" instead of "66x77" for the size of the top.
That's the only possible way that I can see that the yardage she purchased would be enough.
Human error. We've all done something similar.

And if she's upset at the cost, it's better that she starts to understand now that quilting CAN be an expensive hobby.
Of course, any hobby can really get expensive... my son did motocross racing, we've done horse showing, my daughter was in band... so, in comparison, quilting can be considered much less expensive than any of those.

Just a matter of perspective.

adnil458

I prefer the seam to go side to side (along the waist) so if possible I will load backing and top horizontally if the seam has been sewn vertically.

carolynjo

I agree that using a center seam may weaken the quilt. I prefer a cross seam or two seams to piece the backing. Your friend will calm down after she has a few quilts under her belt, but she probably needs a good Jenny Beyer book to "splain" things to her. Quilting is not an inexpensive hobby, and she needs to understand that.