The Art Quilt Backing

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On this page I thought I would show some examples of other people's "Art" backings for quilts.

These days you can buy wide cotton fabrics that make wonderful backings for quilts with out the need to piece together yardage to make a large enough piece of fabric to fit the quilt. You will find a great selection in the online store.

However there are times when the most appropriate fabric for the backing of a quilt just has to be pieced from matching yardage. When this is the case you need to make the backing bigger than the quilt top and make sure that the edges are "square" so that the grain runs straight.

This is particularly important if you are outsourcing the the quilting stage to a Longarm quilter. A backing that is bigger than the quilt has an allowance for it to be used as the support base for the quilt & the batting when it is attached to the take up rollers on the machine table and helps to prevent the quilt from being stressed out of shape. You will find some handy hints for piecing yardage together to make a backing on this page: How to prepare a quilt backing

Sometimes you don't actually have sufficient fabric in one piece to make the backing. I describe backings where you need to add in a second fabric "Art Backings" and always recommend that you resist the temptation to simply add the extra around the edges like a border. It is very difficult to centre a quilt on a backing that has a "border" so the finished result will usually look as if you ran out of fabric! Where as, with a little more planning, and very little extra stitching you can end up with a great "Art Back" for your quilt.

I have some handy hints for a simple piecing on page one of making an "Art" quilt backing

For more inspiration to inspire you to create great "Art Backs" of your own design check out the photos of these backings made by my friends.

Colette's Quilt - ABC Applique	Gail's Quilt - a play in light & dark	Julie's Quilt - Autumn leaves
Colette's Quilt backing A narrow panel was inserted approximately 3/4 the way down the length of the backing. It has been tied together by the clever addition of squares and rectangles of the main backing fabric.	Gail's quilt backing The original backing was only a little too small in both directions so Gail divided it diagonally and inserted a new piece of fabric to make it larger. You will note that she pieced the insert fabric from left overs from the quilt top to create a link between the quilt and back	Julie's quilt back Here two larger pieces of different fabric have been joined together with a narrow band. Once again a link has been established between the quilt and the back. This time by appliqueing a leaf motif onto the joiner.

 

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Last modified: 19 September 2009
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