Sunday 28 September 2014

Quilt Backs

Quilt backs or Quilt backing fabric is an essential element of the quilt.

When quilting it is a lot simpler to use a fabric which is in one piece rather than having to join pieces together to make them big enough for the quilt. These fabrics however are difficult to find and when they are found there is never much choice in a quilt store. This is no doubt due to the space and cost that stocking a good range would take up.

When longarm quilting it is essential to have at least four inches of backing and wadding all around your quilt top ie the backing and wadding need to be at least 8 inches bigger than your top in both directions. When loading a quilt onto the long arm side clamps are used for tension and this can distort the first couple of inches. When computer quilting it is also essential to quilt over the entire quilt and off all the edges.

As a longarm quilter I get lots of people turning up with poor quality backings or sheets and asking me to quilt them - which of course I will, but I will also advise as to whether I consider it worth while. If you are paying for quilting, is it better to spend a little more and get a decent backing fabric too? - I think so.

Anyway, as a result of this, I have ended up stocking a range of the extra wide backing fabrics. These quilt backs are around 108 inches wide and have been imported from the USA to the UK as most patchwork fabrics are.

Currently I now have 40 different extra wide backing fabrics, and a choice of wadding including wool, 80/20. poly, black and cotton.  I have now added these into a shop on my website which you can find here -

LINK to SHOP

I dispatch with a carrier and a signed for service.

Of course with the Extra Wide cotton fabric actually being cotton, you can use any left over for bindings or pieces for a another quilt or project.

Here are just a few of my quilt backs

Vineyard
 Candy Dots


Spot On

Swirls

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