I have finished machine quilting a twin-size quilt, and the front of it looks pretty good. The back is a mess. I'm considering the possibility of sewing another, unquilted backing over the messy one. I can imagine this might cause differential shrinkage problems down the road? Would I need to sew or tie the new backing at intervals to the old backing?
TIA, ep
I have but a new backing on an art quilt before, but never on one that would go through the wash. I think it should work, however, if you tack the new backing at regular intervals and secure it well with binding. If you've already washed the quilt, wash the new backing before putting it on. I see no reason why this wouldn't work -- back in the "olden" days, when the back of a quilt tore they just put on a new one. I know my Granny did that one time when my Papaw was still alive and he fell asleep smoking, burned up the back of his quilt. She grumbled and scolded and banned tobacco from the house, but she put on a "new" back. It was actually an old sheet. But I'm pretty sure the quilt was still used and was still warm.
Sunny
Yes, you can, EP. My first (and last) attempt at quilting each block and then joining them all together sort of went that way. I added a 2nd backing and tacked it. It is an absolute @#$! to smooth out and make the bed . . . but it is such a beautiful quilt that it was/ is worth the extra patting and smoothing. Sometime we need to talk about why your quilt back is a mess. Not just now. We'll work on that later. Polly
Be gentle, Polly. Offhand, I can think of at least six reasons why my quilt back is a mess. Lessons learned, and all that. I'll probably be ready for advice at the level you have the capacity to offer after about four or five more quilts :-)
Thank you and Sunny so much for telling me it can be done! I'm not sure I'll go to the trouble to put a new backing on this one -- it's not *that* bad for a first bed-size quilt, but I'll cogitate on the issue and continue to benefit from the thoughts of whoever would care to continue to comment on this thread.
In the meantime, I have a tolerably pretty Churn Dash quilt top to try to layer MUCH better than this last one, as well as designing and beginning to piece my grand schemes for a lap-size crazy quilt and a St. Louis block quilt top. Say any or all of them look like dirt, but don't say I'm not enjoying the process!
ep
My dear Edna Pearl, the fact that you are enjoying the process justifies everything. We do what we do because it feeds our souls. If we wanted pretty bedding, well I hear Target has some fine items at really good prices. And there's always Costco. We quilt because our hearts and our hands have some odd connection. Cutting the fabric and putting it back together is only a tiny part of what we do. And the final "result" is never really what it's all about. I am thrilled to hear of your enjoyment. Keep on keeping on and just know that each quilt will be a whole new experience, and each one will be a bit better than the one before.
Hugs, Sunny
Certainly, you can do that! Tying will be easiest, and can be done so the quilt still looks good. If the quilt was made of pre-washed fabric or has been washed, you should wash your new backing, of course. Cut it larger than the quilt -- about 4 to 5" larger all the way around. Spread the quilt face-down on a large flat surface, and then spread the new backing fabric over the quilt. Beginning in the center of the quilt and working toward the edges, safety-pin or straight-pin all over the quilt at fairly short intervals. If you use straight pins, then baste all over at fairly short intervals and remove the pins. Now turn the quilt over. Choosing places where the back side of ties won't look bad or may even add some interest to the top of the quilt, take a brightly colored thread that contrasts with the new backing and add temporary ties in all those places, but tying them very loosely so they can be removed easily. Now flip the quilt over again. Every place you have a temporary tie, add the permanent tie with the material (yarn, floss, etc.) you have chosen. Once the permanent ties are in place, snip the temporary ties to remove them, and remove all of the safety pins or basting. Now all you need to do is finish the edges! You can trim carefully, tuck the edges of the new backing under, and blind stitch the edges at the binding, or add a new binding. If it really, really matters, you can unstitch the original binding, trim and tuck the new backing under the original binding, and re-stitch it. Your quilt will now have a neat backing, be tied so it won't shift but with ties that don't make the front look wonky, and have that one extra layer of fabric that makes it just a wee bit warmer.
EP, I made dd a comforter that just had ties on it over 20 years ago. She wore it out and it was still her favorite. The back on that was barely hanging on. I was able to just pull it off since it was so deteriorated. I just backed it with another piece of fabric and did machine tacks for the tieing. Since it was already bound I just turned the outer edges over and stitched at the original spot the binding was added. It isn't going to win any quilting awards (unless Ami Simms sees it) but dd still can use and enjoy it. She has several really beautiful quilts I have made her since but that one is puffy and soft even still and she loves it most.
I am with Polly on working on the backings. If you still have options for your Christmas list ask for the Harriet Hargrave book. Using her method of pinning makes it tough to get bad backs. Please report back on how it goes. Taria
Thanks for all the thoughtful tips and ideas! I have saved your posts to my "backing" file. I have folded the quilt and put it beside my SM to wait a while before I decide just what to do.
In the meantime, I have cut some muslin for foundation for my crazy quilt, and am gathering special fabrics for same. I think crazy quilting will be a lot of fun for me because I LOVE to embroider AND do patchwork. And I have all these childhood and thrift store clothes with wonderful woolens, velvets, satins, linens, and silks that are just crying out for crazy quilting. I have never done ribbon embroidery before, so it will be fun to learn that. And I also hit a great sale on charms to decorate the crazy quilt -- dozens of lovely little metallic charms that I got for 10 to 75 cents apiece.
I also have a nice Churn Dash quilt top that is ready to be layered, and I will take much more care with my basting this time. I think I've also figured out what settings my SM wants for machine quilting, so between the better basting and the happier SM, I am hoping for a better quilt back this time. I'll do some ditch quilting on this one with the SM, then do some hand-quilting centered in each block.
Thanks again, ep
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