mighty

I put my seams were ever, I longarm and have not found it to be a problem.

Barb in Louisiana

I have a long arm & haven't experienced the problem of bunching, but it's probably because I have only done laps on it. I prefer one piece backs, just because they are simplest, but....What I do like, is to use 3 or 4 of the fabrics from the front of the quilt & make horizontal strips with the fabric for the backing. This gives you a reversible quilt with little effort. It truly is easier to keep the horizontal seams straight as opposed to the vertical ones.

DOTTYMO

I have vertical and horizontal seams on my back because I do a little or more piecing. Usually to finish off the extra ones I made.

maryb119

I have seams vertically or horizontally....it depends on how I get the best use of the backing fabric. I have had no problems with eithere way the seams are.

cathyvv

Vertical seams on the back of a big quilt that is quilted on a long arm can result in a raised area on the take up pole as you quilt. The more you quilt, the greater the distortion of the quilt.

Having said that, I have done vertical seams on backings, but the quilts I've done that way are lap size, and I only do end to end quilting. I imagine if I did more 'special' quilting - or bigger quilts - the vertical line might be a problem.

BETTY62

Good to know. Where is the best place to order the wider backing?

Peckish

I would add an illustration for you but it's kind of hard to take a picture of the problem.

For longarming, when you load a quilt backing on the rollers, if the seam is perpendicular to the rollers, meaning it runs east and west along with the rollers, that's not a problem. However, if the seam is vertical, or running north and south, or makes a "t" with the rails, that seam will get thicker and thicker on the roller as you advance the quilt. That center seam will be thicker than the rest of the quilt, and you end up with loose edges that you have to manage.

quilttiger

I have used both wide and pieced backings. With the pieced backings, seams have been vertical, horizontal or every which way if I use leftover blocks as part of the backing. Sometimes I piece large leftover squares, rectangles and even scraps into fun backings. Thus far, there have been no problems.

teddysmom

I'm a hand quilter so the seam placement on the back isn't an issue.

Dollyo

I quilted 6 "Pure Comfort Wraps" last year with the diagonal backing on my frame. As they were for charity, I was trying to use my stash. With some pieces, that was the only way that we could get a back out of them. It quilts nicely, much better than vertically. I prefer horizontally.