Pieced backings
 

I've become intrigued with tutorials on pieced backings lately. I make a lot of baby quilts, usually about 46 to 48 inches wide. I've been frustrated over having to piece in a skinny strip of the backing fabric in order to make it wide enough, and am realizing it's much more fun to do something creative on the back. Today I finished quilting a baby quilt on my DSM that has my first-ever creatively-pieced back. I used a couple blocks from the front, bordered them with leftovers from the front piano keyboard border, and inserted them in the back. Voila! Art!

sounds fabulous! no reason why you shouldn't enjoy the process from beginning to end (or front to back)!

Piecing the back adds a lot more variety to the quilt, almost like having a reversible quilt.

If you want to use a single fabric for your backs, especially for baby quilts, I highly recommend the diagonal seam method. It requires the minimum amount of your single fabric. Baby quilts are the ideal practice place for trying this method out. Here is a good calculator: https://jinnybeyer.com/wp-content/up...-Worksheet.pdf

I'm really getting into pieced backs. Great place to use up the leftover fabric

wesing, thank you for the link and will keep this for the next set of small quilts I am making. I am trying to get as much fabric out of here by making toddler sized utility quilts.

I love pieced backs. I went to college in Interior Design. If there was something in the room that was an obstacle or in a strange place such as a column in the center of the room, we were taught to make it become an asset. Add more columns to make it look intentional. The seam on the back is the same, a great place to change it up and add interest. Rather than a skinny inset, make it a wide inset.

I piece the backing fabric sometimes. I think it looks great when it's quilted. It also uses extra fabric instead of putting the left-over fabric back in my stash. I did this on the back of a baby quilt because I didn't have enough of one fabric for the backing but combining the remaining fabric worked for it.

Your quilt is so neat and kid friendly.

Anyone have problems with picking the backing when the quilting is going to be done on a DSM? My concerns: my backing is never very straight when I baste my quilt in the limited space I have available and those extra (and hidden!) seams to quilt over.