When I started to quilt, most quilts used muslin for the backs. We hand quilted with off white thread. There was no such thing as machine quilting. After a while, coordinating fabric was used for the backs. Machine quilting became the way to finish a quilt.
When I first started to quilt, I bought enough fabric to cover all the back of the quilts. There were many times that I was just a few inches short of fabric for the backing. I would either add a strip of coordinating fabric in the center of the fabric or add a border all around the backing.
There are times when two strips can be added.
The modern quilt movement has given me many ideas for backings. The backings can be made with scraps left over from the front.
I had purchased the remains of fabric bolts from a closed quilt shop. There were several bolts of pillow panels. I didn’t want to make pillows and used the yardage for backs. This one worked for a masculine quilt.
The traditional Hunter Star quilt has a back that was made with some mile a minute red blocks for a modern quilt look.
Last year, I made the Blockbuster quilt with Japanese fabric. I had a lot of that fabric left over and pieced the back.
I cut some of my scraps in 2 1/2″ strips and made a jellyroll quilt. It has been on a hanger in the closet for a while. I think that it would make a perfect back for a scrap quilt.
On occasion, I will buy 108″ wide fabric for backing. It works fine for large quilts that I send to the long arm quilter. With all my scraps, I can make my own yardage for the quilts that I quilt myself.
I have a large pile of quilt tops that need quilting. If I find two that are the same size, I can use one for the top and the other for the backing. A two sided quilt will be nice and the pile would be smaller much faster. Then, I can make more tops
Have a great day and happy quilting.
Miss Molly quilts 