Purchasing Backing Fabric for Your Quilt

The time has come to purchase backing fabric for your quilt. You will need to make the decision as to whether you want your backing to be the same type of fabric that you used in your quilt top or whether you want your backing to be one solid piece of material. Some quilters buy the quilt backing fabric at the same time as when they buy the material for the top. Other quilters will buy the backing once the quilt top is finished to ensure that they have enough backing material for their finished top. The choice is yours as to when the best time would be for you to purchase your backing fabric.

At one time, backing a crib, twin, queen or king sized quilt involved piecing two or more Hotel bedding suppliers pieces together as traditional quilt fabric comes in widths of 44 - 45 inches. If you plan on using quilt fabric in these traditional widths for your backing be prepared to purchase approximately twice the length of your quilt top. Take into consideration that when the time comes to piece your backing fabric together, you will need to cut off the selvages before you sew. This will lessen the width of your fabric by approximately 1 inch. The reason for trimming the selvage is because the selvage of quilt fabrics is tightly woven. If the selvage is left on, it can cause problems when you wash your quilt at a later date.

Today, quilt fabric manufacturers produce backing fabrics that come in 90 inch and 120 inch widths. These fabrics come in a variety of colors and prints. Fabric manufacturers also produce solid white and natural color fabrics in these wider widths. These larger width fabrics can eliminate the need to piece your backing altogether.

When you go to your fabric store to purchase your backing, bring along the dimensions of your quilt top or if you have finished your quilt top, bring your quilt top with you so you can audition the proposed backing fabric against the finished quilt top.