I love your batiks...I can see the ripples on the water as your paddle slices through it......very, very nice!

i always used whole backings, but as my unused big pieces stack grows, i'm rethinking that. i want to try stripes across of whatever mixed colors i find that sort of match the front. the stripes could be any width, and if they have to pieced for length, so be it.

I like to use muslin that is all one piece. I like that you can get the wide widths. I guess our Joann's finally is stocking colors in wider widths, so I will have to check it out.

the joann's ones are not too bad. they are like muslin to the touch, not the best muslin, but okay.
they come in paisleys and florals, in shades of one color, so it's pretty easy to match to your project.
one word of advice: it starts out 108" they say (i'm not that sure they're accurate about that) but after washing it's about 103 - 104.