Pieced Backs? Blocks?

One giant whole cloth block in the center, then large borders until it is big enough. Or smaller center and larger borders. Not much piecing, but uses up the biggest left overs from the quilt top fabrics plus some similar colored stash fairly well. Debra in VA See my quilts at

If I piece the back I try to have a wide final border on the back so that if the back is not perfectly aligned with the front it will not be too obvious.

Ditto if the back is strips of fabric - wide strips on each side so variations in the last strip are not too obvious when the quilt is trimmed and bound.

I only piece backs out of dire necessity! If I have a piece of fabric, just right for the top, which is pretty close to large enough, I'll use it and make whatever additions are necessary. The last three have needed more width, so I spilt the large fabric down the middle (vertically) and made a sort of wide-stepped ladder with pieces from the top and, if necessary, something that goes with it all! I am not a big fan of doing much with 'backs' >g< . In message , dogmom writes

My goal for a back is to piece nothing, but real life isn't always up to the ideal. Sometimes there's a "just right" piece in the stash that's a bit too small, so it might get cut in strips and alternated with something else. Or whatever needs doing to get something the right size. But I'm with you, once the top is pieced, I want to get it quilted! Roberta in D

"dogmom" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:B6CdnWesOPnoaa7bnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@io.com...

I'm facing that as we speak for the beachy wedding quilty thingy. This back will get pieced somehow since I have (tropical, of course) to put together for it. I'm still debating putting the surfboard fabric on the front or the back, but I'm leaning toward the back, since the front is busy enough with all those loud Snail's Trail blocks! Usually, mine are somewhat pieced, either old extra blocks that go with the front, or wide stripes from fabric from the top or coordinating.

I haven't done too many pieced backs, but I generally just use any big chunks of fabric I have on hand.

Howdy!

Yes.

R/Sandy

Yes, yes, yes.

Once in a great while I'll make a design, but I try to remind myself to put LESS work into the back than I did into the front! LOL

Often I'll use up extra blocks from the front, or use scraps from strip piecing on the front to make new blocks that go into the back. The rest of the back gets filled up with whatever hunks I find in my stash that coordinate with the front.

Rarely are my backs symmetrical, partly because I use whatever hunks and blocks I find, and partly because I do a lot of quilting on the front, and I don't want to drive myself crazy trying to match up the backing to the front.

I frequently need just some extra width to my backing. So I piece a strip wide enough, sometimes just leftovers from the front in random widths, sometimes something else. Then I split my main piece for the back, but not at the center. I very deliberately piece off center so that I don't have to worry about getting everything centered. I have been known to make a large example of the main block of the quilt top, then adding borders to make a back. And I have been known to take big chunks of fabric and piece them together until the back is big enough. Depends on how much of the "front" fabric I have left over and whether or not I want to keep it for another quilt. Wall hangings I frequently use muslin as backs.

Pati, > If I piece the back I try to have a wide final border on the

Another good way to piece a back -- and one that doesn't require worrying about centering, etc. -- is to use John Flynn's diagonal pieced back idea, found about halfway down on . I used it on my African Feathered Stars quilt when I didn't have quite enough of the navy I wanted to use; it worked *so* well that I'll definitely use it again. :) I ended up sewing a strip of the African-motif stripe from the front in between two pieces of the navy, then splitting that whole thing according to John Flynn's instructions. It made for a very interesting back! :)

Thanks you Ms Pat. You've just given me a lightbulb moment and saved me buying more fabric (no, that IS a good thing!!!). I'd found the perfect fabric to use for the back of the current quilt but it was too small - even using that wonderful diagonal cutting technique I was still about 10-15" off. Now I know just what to do!!! Thanks you muchly!!!

Ooooooooooooooooooh another wonderful idea - this group just gets better and better!

Thanks

Sharon in Melbourne Australia!

Did my siggy show up? WHoops!

Sharon from Melbourne Australia