I absolutely late piecing quilt backs. I've found an internet seller that offers something called 'fat backs.' They are 108" wide and 3.5 yards long. They have all sorts of fabric styles. Just got a batik one for my batik scrap quilt. I also got 10 yards of wide muslin for the batting of that quilt and the back of another. They managed to squeeze all that fabric into a flat rate priority box, so the postage wasn't too bad. I think I'll use them for all of my backs in the future. Seems to me the name of the company was the same as their street address--Christian Lane (?)
joan p.s. They also sell pre-marked whole cloth quilt tops in all sizes. Neat store.
The sheets are a 180 count. I had used a blanket as a batting and had pieced the front. I didn't have a problem with hand quilting, but it was a quilt as you go and I quilted it during the long rides we went on to check on my sick FIL more than 15 years ago. Other quilts with a sheet backing were tie quilted using a crochet thread and a triple tie. Barbara in FL
Some ladies I know pre-wash their 80/20 or cotton batting too. I did once. That quilt was less crinkly after washing than any of them. I never did wash again, I just don't like doing it for some reason, and don't mind if it's a little crinkly.
I use Moda, and of course it does wrinkle when it's first washed, but after it's ironed and the quilt is quilted, it doesn't seem to wrinkle noticeably after washing. Just the normal puffier look. I use 80/20 Hobbs batting lately. Depends on the colors of the top, for me, too; I have a top finished that's very bright watermelon motif with bright greens/reds. Unbleached muslin, though I love the look in the other quilts, just won't look right on that one.
I buy yardage of the same quilting weight fabric that I use for the front. Usually I piece 45" width fabric to get the size I need. That's different for every quilt. The leftover goes in my stash for future use. Sometimes I buy backing yardage. Once, when I specifically needed flannel for the back, I bought a flannel sheet set, but I didn't care for it. There was less sewing, but more figuring how to cut and arrange it. I'm going back to using yardage.
As for thread count, you're worrying too much. You don't want gauze, but pretty much anything sold as a 100% cotton sheet will work just fine. I was at Linens and Things last night and was looking at sheets made with 600 count Egyptian cotton. No one loves sliding down into a perfectly made bed with perfect clean cotton sheets more than I do, but I doubt that 600 count is really more comfortable than the 250 count percale that I grew up with.
I haven't used a sheet for backing for a long, long time. As others have said, many of them are a fairly high thread count and therefore more difficult to hand quilt. The less expensive ones are usually a poly/cotton blend and often "pill". I use a lot of muslin, either unbleached or white, for bed quilts, wall hangings, and table runners. Or I look for clearance fabrics for backings. I don't mind piecing backings, either, so I don't usually hunt out the extra wide backing fabric.
Julia in MN
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Maybe that's it then. I usually use 100% or 80/20 cotton if I can get it. I don't like polyester batting. I don't like the way it "squeaks". I've used 100 wool batting that needed pre-washing, and all this yellow oily stuff came out. It was amazing. That quilt didn't shrink as much. But the prewashing was a pain - especially drying it. Obviously you couldn't use a tumble drier or you'd just end up with fluff. It was winter so I had to dry it indoors. It took *days*. It's a lovely cosy quilt, though.
SIL got us a set of 400 count sheets for Christmas. They are NOISY (I could hear them crinkle across the room--DH was in bed afore me)and feel 'cold' and you just don't 'sink' into them. Almost like you're lying on top of a solid board. I don't know how else to describe it. WE did give it a full week's trials worth but gave up and went back to the 300 count. I can't sleep on flannel either--that's too 'grabby'. She said she got them for $10.00 per sheet and $5.00 for the pillowcases. (discontinued sale bin) DH didn't care for it , either, and flannel is too warm for him.
I don't know about thread counts for 'typical' LQS quality fabrics, but when I buy fabric for hand-dying from Dharma Trading it's their Pimatex. It has a thread count of 133X72 and is very similar to the batiks we buy for our quilts- which are more tightly woven than a 'typical' quilting fabric and are known to give longarm quilters headaches. Their sateen is also very nice- soft but a but stout. It has a thread count of 150X80. Their broadcloth is 133X72. All that tells me that a 300 ct. sheet would be much too tightly woven as compared to the fabrics we are accustomed to using for piecing and quilting.
On one of the Hugs that I 'hosted', I did rows of different things. The Fellow Recipient liked the backing as much as the front. Each width row had a separate theme: sky, planes, boats, sea, to name a few : ). Since then I take the recipients 'loves' and see if I can't work at least one row of it in the back. I'll have to look those pixs up and have our Webmaster include it. IF. I can find them.
Butterfly (DD's plane quilt will have 3 different 'sky' fabrics with solid dark blue in between)
One of the coolest quilts I've ever made consisted on an intricately pieced top, Warm & Natural batting, and an equally intricately pieced back. It was like a 2-topped quilt in that the 2 sides were different patterns and different color schemes. The back had a 10" solid border and was larger than the front so I could layer and baste normally. I did my best to center the front on the back, but there was that solid leeway so I didn't have to be exact.
Result: Cool, but difficult. The more seams you have on the back, the harder it is to baste perfectly flat, and the harder it is to baste, the harder it is to machine quilt without all those little pin tucks. It was a fantastic quilt, and I'd do it again, but be aware that you're setting yourself up for a challenge.
(When I asked the newlywed couple what colors they'd like their quilt in, she said purple and teal; he said red and black. They both said they liked avant garde as opposed to anything traditional. I thought of a purple, teal, red, and black color scheme and said gaack. So I made the front in purple, teal, sage, and dark blue in a medallion style that was unlike anything I'd seen before, and I made the back in red, black, and grey, mostly different sized squares and with some flying geese scattered around. I liked the way it came out. I don't think they appreciated what they got.)
I have a quilt with someone's blanket inside. I hand quilted it with an up and down per stitch. Very time consuming. It's the "snowball quilt" I posted the URL to last week or so. By the time it was finished she decided she was changing her color scheme so I still have it.
We can get sheets here up to 800 count but they are very expensive.
I wish I could remember the ct I used in the past. I don't recall having trouble hand quilting it in a hoop so it must have been 200 to 300 ct. Hand dying is something I wouldn't want to get into. I like to buy, wash, press, cut and sew. :^) We have no space for a quilting rack so I lap quilt in a large hoop.
I use Moda, and of course it does wrinkle when it's first washed, but after it's ironed and the quilt is quilted, it doesn't seem to wrinkle noticeably after washing. Just the normal puffier look. I use 80/20 Hobbs batting lately. Depends on the colors of the top, for me, too; I have a top finished that's very bright watermelon motif with bright greens/reds. Unbleached muslin, though I love the look in the other quilts, just won't look right on that one.
Sherry
Maybe it's the slick smoothness and color of sheets that I like for a backing. I was always able to find a sheet to match the top. I have to check out the new stuff on my next trip to the city. So much has changed since I stopped quilting back around 1992.
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