muslin as backing

Sure it is. That is what I used for the backing on my Tropical fish wall hanging. Three generations of my family have even used good muslin for the backing on many bed quilts. Debra in VA See my quilts at

Works great! BUT, be sure not to get the cheaper kind, 'cuz it shrinks a BUNCH! (Our local TSWLTH has 36" wide (the shrinky kind!) and 45"-90"-120" wide which work great.) I found this out when I used the cheapo stuff to back my doggie placemats. It shrunk so much that the edges curled! My 2 cents worth.

ME-Judy

And pre-wash the muslin. I've found that muslin (even the better stuff) shrinks more than most other quilting fabric. I've used muslin a lot for backing quilts of all sizes. I'm especially likely to use it on wall hangings because no one ever sees the backs of those. Heck, I've even used good quality muslin in quilt tops. It is also very nice for hand-quilting.

Julia > Works great! BUT, be sure not to get the cheaper kind, 'cuz it shrinks a

Thanks for the reminder, I must be being really dumb today, the top is ready for basting and I was going to use the muslin straight out of the bag and I did prewash the fabrics for the top!

silly silly me

off to put it in the machine, which means I can't get started on the quilting :-(

Anne

I use muslin as backing for a lot of my small wall hangings. (And larger ones on occasion.) Don't see why there should be any problems.....

Pati, in Phx

Anne Rogers wrote:

Of course.

If you mean what we call Calico then of course you can.I use it all the time!

yup, apparently what is called muslin in the US is calico in the UK and in the US the word calico implies printed cotton, hence "quilter's calico" and why there are several quilt stores with calico in the name. Now the question is, what does one mean by muslin in the UK ('m a Brit, but live in the US), what people in the US call burp cloths, I would call "a muslin", but the fabric isn't the same, plus, muslin squares are something you'd use in cooking for straining things, I never used one, but looking at pictures, it looks very much like US muslin, not baby muslins - but I wouldn't expect a British cooking term to originate in the US given how distinct the words used in cooking are.

Cheers Anne

So do I ... I like using sold colors on the backs of my quilts 'cause it lets the hand quilting show through better (IMHO).

'Sides, with muslin, you always know you have enough on hand to match a quilt - since it's neutral! :)

I buy bolts of it at a time ... cheaper that way than to go and buy a yard and then cut it up only to have muslin leftovers ... and I use it for crazy quiltin'.

Hey, Patti ... did you get my e-mail? I sent it last night to the addy in your headers ...

Only problem I have is that the "busier" the backing , the less the quilting mistakes show.

Cindy

Yes, Jennie Rayment has a lovely story of the first time she taught a class in the US and gave one of the requirements as Calico. Of course she meant the plain cream cotton fabric we call calico here. She was a bit taken-aback when every one produced cotton printed quilt fabric.

The wonderful Oxford Dictionery gives muslin as 'a fine delicately woven cotton cloth', and heroines in romantic period novels wore 'sprigged muslin'. I can just imagine the fine printed pretty fabric that would make an empire-line gown. Muslin drapes well. Isn't that what is used by dressmakers when they make a trial pattern up?

I've always called the muslin used for cooking 'butter muslin' - my mother used it for straining soured milk to make cream cheese. I suppose that there are different weights and weaves.

Incidently I googled it, but google found it difficult to differentiate between Muslin and Muslim, despite the fact that I had spelt it correctly!

but if it's a wall hanging you're not showing anyone that side!

Some have said they do use muslin for other quilt backings I wouldn't be so confident myself that it would be durable enough, nor do I think I'd like the way it looked, but that's just my preference. Given I bought most of a bolt of muslin, I could see it happening though if I didn't happen to have any backing fabric in stock and didn't want to wait until I had chance to go to the shops.

Anne

My thoughts exactly Anne. I do use muslin on the front, but I can avoid quilting in those spots.

Dee in Oz

Sally, That fabric (butter muslin) you used for your cottage cheese is most likely what we call cheese cloth. I mean a very loosely woven white cotton, wonderful for making herb bags, straining jelly (fruit spread for bread), and of course for cheese.

Back to quilt>

Oh, sure, I would think so. I use muslin as backing on most quilts. It quilts very easily, it's neutral, it's cheap. (but I always buy the better quality, Moda muslin, I think a muslin purchase is one example where you really get what you pay for. You don't want it to shrink badly, and come out of the wash so wadded it's impossible to iron out the wrinkles. That happens sometimes with cheap muslin)

Sherry

We call it Calico in Oz as well, muslin we use for straining the ginger beer through or my daughter uses it for filmy curtains. When I first started patching, all we used for backing was calico or if we were "daring" enough, a coloured homespun. Now there seems to be the trend to put a complimentary printed cotton on the back of quilts as well. But for wall hangings I use good calico (muslin) that's been washed and dried in the clothes dryer to make sure it's well and truly shrunk. Wendy in NSW

I think that's what I like about muslin, too. The time that I used a complimentary fabric the thread count must have been too high, because it so much more difficult to hand quilt, but I'd used 45" fabric and seamed it. Should have stuck with the 109" selection that's made for that purpose.

Sherry

I agree with you, Pat. After I've spent so much time and effort on hand-piecing/hand-quilting a WH, I want the back to coordinate. I even backed my "Amish Study," which I later had framed, in a coordinating fabric. As always, though, YMMV!

- dlm. in central MA