Based on a video by Fat Quarter Shop
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Steps written out by Crafting Step by Step · Published
A quilt backing is the big piece of fabric on the back of your quilt. Most quilts are wider than one width of fabric, so the backing gets pieced from two lengths sewn together. Kimberly from Fat Quarter Shop shows how she does it for the 50 1/2 inch Ultimate Beginner Quilt, straight off the bolt and without fuss.
It is one long seam. The trick is keeping the fabric in order so that seam goes in straight.
Make the backing about 4 to 5 inches bigger than the quilt top on every side. Kimberly adds 5, so a 50 1/2 inch quilt gets a 60 1/2 inch backing. A longarm quilter needs that extra to clamp the backing onto the frame. If you quilt at home, the extra still helps, because quilting draws the layers in and a backing that comes up short is hard to fix.
Quilting cotton is about 42 to 44 inches wide. Two widths sewn together give you about 80 inches, which covers most lap and throw quilts. Buy two lengths of the backing size: for a 60 1/2 inch backing that is two 60 1/2 inch cuts, a little over 3 3/8 yards. Bed sized quilts usually need three widths. You can also buy extra wide backing fabric, 108 inches wide, and skip the seam altogether.
The traditional rule is a 1/2 inch seam pressed open. The backing seam takes a lot of strain while the quilt is stretched and used, and the wider seam is stronger. Kimberly admits she uses a 1/4 inch seam pressed to one side at home, because nobody told her the rule for her first five years. Both work. Use the half inch if the quilt is going to a longarm quilter.
Either way works. Kimberly sews two widths together, so her seam runs across the quilt. For a long, narrow quilt, a seam down the length can use less fabric. If you have a directional print, choose the layout that keeps the design upright. Many quilters like the seam off center, so it does not fold right along the middle.
Selvages are woven tighter than the rest of the fabric and can pucker after washing. Trim them off the edge you are sewing, or sew past them so they sit in the seam allowance.
A solid is calm and shows off the quilting stitches. A busy print hides wobbly quilting, which is a kindness on a first quilt. You can also piece leftover blocks into a strip down the middle of the backing. A grandchild's quilt is a nice place to add a block with their name or a printed label.
Next comes the quilt sandwich. See how to baste a quilt, then how to machine quilt and how to bind a quilt. For flat seams on the front, read how to press quilt seams.
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Work out the backing size first: the quilt plus about 5 inches on every side. For a 50 1/2 inch quilt that is 60 1/2 inches. Open your backing fabric as it came off the bolt, keep it lined up on the fold, and cut it into two lengths of 60 1/2 inches each. The cut can be a bit crooked. It gets trimmed later.
Measure each piece after cutting. A little long is fine; short is not.
Stack the two lengths with the selvages together at the top. Do not unfold and iron everything yet. Kimberly gives the stack a gentle press along the selvage end only, enough to take out the worst wrinkles. Keeping the fabric the way it came off the bolt keeps the edges lined up, so the long seam goes together straight.
This is not the final press. The full press comes after sewing.
Lay the two pieces right sides together, selvage to selvage, and smooth them flat on your cutting mat. With a solid, either side can face in, but with a print the right sides must face each other. Keep every fold and edge in line. When you pick this up later, it is ready to sew because nothing has shifted.
With a directional print, check both pieces point the same way before you sew.
Lay a long quilting ruler along the edge you will sew, lining it up with the fold and a line on the mat. Cut straight through all the layers with a rotary cutter. This trims away the selvage and gives both pieces one clean, matching edge to seam together. Hold the ruler firmly so it does not creep while you cut.
Walk your hand up the ruler as you cut a long edge, keeping pressure near the blade.
Pin along the trimmed edge, two layers at a time, before you go to the sewing machine. Everything stays in order and nothing slides on the long seam. Place a pin every few inches, at a right angle to the edge so you can pull them out as you sew. A magnetic pin dish beside you keeps them from ending up on the floor.
Long glass head pins hold quilting cotton well and are easy to spot.
Put the needle in the down position and fit an open toe foot. Set a ruler on the needle plate with the half inch line on the needle. Lay a strip of tape on the machine bed along the ruler's edge. That tape is your guide for the whole seam. It does not have to be exact, because it is the back, but it does need to be straight.
Washi tape works well. It lifts off the machine cleanly when you are done.
Feed the pinned edge under the foot and keep the fabric edge running along the tape guide. Kimberly uses a 2.0 stitch length. Let the machine pull the fabric and support the weight of the backing so it does not drag the seam off course. Take the pins out as you reach them. That one seam joins the backing.
Pile the backing on your lap or a table behind the machine so it does not pull.
Take the backing to the ironing board and press the seam flat as sewn to set the stitches. Now do the full press, both sides, getting every wrinkle out. Kimberly saves all her ironing for this point, because the fabric has stayed in order. Longarm quilters say unironed backings are one of the most common problems they see.
Kimberly does not starch backings. You can, so front and back shrink alike.
Press the seam to one side first, pulling gently so there is no tuck along the stitching. Then flip the backing over and press the seam open, finger pressing ahead of the iron as you go. Use steam. Keep the fabric flat before each pass, or you will press a crease into the other side.
Keep your fingers clear of the iron's tip. Steam burns quickly.
Two widths of fabric make the backing about 84 inches wide, much more than this quilt needs. Fold it in half and trim it down to about 30 1/4 inches from the fold, so it opens to roughly 60 1/2 inches square. The cut does not need to be straight. Save the leftover strip for another quilt, then fold the backing neatly.
Ask your longarm quilter how much extra they want. Some prefer more.
Keep going
How to Square Up a Quilt Block So Every Block Measures the Same
How to Make a Quilt Backing
E6000
E6000 Craft Adhesive, Clear (3.7 oz)
The industrial-strength craft glue that bonds glass, wood, ceramic, metal, fabric, and concrete. The one adhesive most craft projects reach for.
Gorilla
Gorilla Dual-Temp Full-Size Hot Glue Gun
Dual-temp so it handles delicate florals and heavy materials alike. A precise nozzle and built-in stand make it the everyday craft-table gun.
OLFA
OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
The pro-standard cutting surface. Gridlines for square cuts, self-healing so blades never leave grooves, and big enough for paper, fabric, and leather.
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