Backing fabric for your Quilt

Most LongArmers like to have the backing fabric 6 to 8 inches wider than your quilt top.  That gives them 3 to 4 inches on each side of your quilt.   And at least 10" longer than your quilt.  More is better than scrimping.  Quilting on a longarm machine actually takes up a bit more fabric on the back.  These extra inches will allow for any "shrinkage" during the quilting process.   I always told my clients to leave whatever length their backing ends up to be alone.  That way they would get one piece back rather then having them cut the backing down to 10" and then me trimming off the backing and giving them another small piece.

Whenever possible I like to use a solid piece for the backing fabric.  It usually comes in a width of 108".  Your Longarm Quilter will love it! 

When piecing your backing horizontal seams are the best.  And when I say horizontal, I mean I want the seams to run the same direction as my longarm rails.  Let's say it's going to take 3 lengths of backing fabric to make the backing of a Queen size quilt top.  Each piece would be cut around 95".  Most fabric is 42" with the selvages cut off.  That will give you a backing piece of 95" by 125" inches.

The diagram shows how to piece the fabric.  Remove the selvages from both sides of the center piece and the seam edges of the top and bottom piece.  Leave the selvages on the top  and the bottom of the other two pieces.  If you're quilting on your domestic machine, this will help the edges from fraying.  If you are giving it to a Longarm quilter, she'll appreciate the selvages when she is pinning the backing to her leaders.

To insure that you have enough backing fabric I use this technique.  I first fold my backing into quarters.  Then I fold my quilt into quarters and lay it on top of the backing.  Aligning the two folded edges.   As you can see the amount of backing hanging off the off the table is ample for the length of the backing.  Remember it's double that amount since the length is folded in half.   On the right side of the picture above and the one on the right, you can see there is ample backing fabric for the sides of the quilt.  Sorry this example is white on top of white.  Hope you can see it.  If you are viewing this from an email notification, you might want to go to the blog site.  The pictures are a bit more clear and larger.




I recently had the pleasure of hearing Dora Cary lecture.  She said she does her quilting on a domestic machine.  She NEVER pins or bastes her quilt sandwich.  Dora always uses 100% cotton batting that grips the fabric.  She smooths out the backing fabric, layers on the batting, hand pressing it against the backing.  Then she layers on the quilt top and again hand presses it smooth against the batting.  She had a quilt with her that was partially quilted.  We could see that the layers were smooth and "stuck" together.  I haven't tried this, but it sure would be a time saver.  She was a very interesting speaker.  I'd highly recommend her to any guild looking for a good speaker.  https://www.orangedotquilts.com/

Feel free to send questions along about any making backing fabric.  The method for checking to see if you have enough backing fabric is a fast and true method.  I've used it on wall hangings to CA King size quilts, it never fails.