Quilt in a Day Forums

What is your favorite quilt backing? I don't care to use prints for the backing because the quilting doesn't show as well as it does with unprinted fabrics (even if I am not an expert quilter, I like to see what I have done). There are lots of just nice plain cottons on the market and some very nice muslins of good quality. What's your favorite? I saw a muslin the other day that was a 200 thread count.

Thanks for the well wishes for my DH. He has six 5 day weeks to go on his radiotherapy and is looking at a wonderful 80-90% cure rate...Just need to do the round trip, 167 miles a day to travel to the clinic and hope when the soreness of the throat comes, he won't be in too much pain. He won't be allowed to talk for the last 3 weeks of treatment and at least two weeks following. It will be quiet around the house...and he will probably put his head out of joint at nodding his head in answer to my many questions..) LOL Thank you for prayers for our endurance, DH's strength and stamina, and God's healing through the process.

I have several preferences for backing - the first is I like to take extra blocks, and left over fabric and piece them together
second if I use one fabric I like it to be a print

Like you, I don't really care for prints because you can't see the quilting that you work so hard at. I love muslin and if I do use a color it's usually a plain, dark, cotton.

Garness, have I welcomed you yet. If not, welcome. This is a great site. Please stay tuned.

The first quilt I machine quilted on my short arm had a white muslin backing and I wish I hadn't used a solid. I had a few problems and they show even tho I'm probably the only one who notices. So for DH's flag quilt I bought an off white with teeny tiny red and blue stars. It's not real busy but maybe it will be busy enough that mistakes won't show much. When I get good at it I'll use a solid again. Someone at QIAD pieces the backing for her quilts and it looks so good. I may try that on one of mine.

I think the smaller print like you mention cindyg would be great, and also the muted neutral patterns. I guess I meant the really busy prints are the ones where the quilting gets lost...even though what probably should get lost are the mistakes!! )

It kind of depends on the pattern of the top. I like traditional patterns & applique. For those I like a white on white or cream on cream. If it is truly a special top, I will use white or cream solid. For a kids quilt, I use a color that is in top, maybe even a certain print, for the backing. For a guy, I like to use a neutral solid or tone on tone.

Busy print - usually one of the fabrics from the top.

If its a baby quilt, or under 40 wide, I'll use one of the fabrics in the quilt. Other than that, I like small tonal prints. My quilting isn't that great, so the idea of having it blend works for me.

My preference for backing is one I don't have to piece! Love the wide backing fabric! I don't mind so much piecing backs if they're small quilts, but a king size is tough for me to do. When I use a fat quarter pattern for a quilt I like to use all the leftover fabric from the top in the back. If I'm going to stitch in the ditch, then I like to use a large scale print for the backing. If I'm going to quilt motifs in the blocks and a feather or other design in the border, etc...I like to use a light colored tone on tone for the backing because after all that work, I want to see my stitches...mistakes and all! LOL!

It all depends on the quilt top. I usually try to pull in something from the front. I love to put stripes on the back of a quilt that has more of a flowery flavor. Trouble with stripes is, it usually takes more fabric since of course you can only go on one direction. At the quilt retreat I go to every year I am seeing a lot of pieced backs which I love. But by the time I get to that point, I just want to get the sucker done!!! I will take some of the fabric from the front and make some kind of a strip every once in a while. Sometimes I need to do that just to make it big enough if I don't have enough fabric.

I'm going to put a Minkee backing on for the first time on my little Around the World quilt. Hopefully it will work OK on my longarm. Have heard good and bad about that. I know I can just do a very simple quilting design which is fine by me. Also have to worry about the stretch. So hopefully it will work out. Just need to go buy the Minkee.....and it is soooo expensive. But I think it's a little wider than usual, I hope.