I quilt and embellish all my art quilts before backing them. I can hand stitch and bead without worrying about the knots, I don't have to worry about pleats on the backing, and it gives me much more freedom to quilt and create exactly as I desire. I have never found it to be any more 'draggy' than a quilt with the backing already on, but, so far, they have all been smaller than full size bed quilts.
When done, I fuse the backing to the batting (non-scrim side or it will pucker). Depending on finished size I add a bit of additional quilting for security and then bind as usual. My quilts are not intended to be washed by machine for several reasons, but most take hand washing just fine. I use Warm & Natural and Warm & White.
Last edited by ghostrider; 03-20-2014 at 06:50 AM.