Sunday, February 12, 2012

Just wondering???

I am just trying to figure out why I see a trend for pieced backing on a quilt.  I don't have anything against it even though some I have seen don't usually seem visually appealing (to me anyways) but I would think the piecing would make the quilting of the sandwich to be more difficult.  I could be mistaken in that perception however.  I just would figure with more seams on the front and the back, there would be more of a chance for puckering.
I know I hate when I have to piece two or three pieces of fabric to make the backing large enough for bigger quilts....I couldn't imagine piecing more.
**for the record....these aren't my quilts** I stole a few pics off the internet...not sure where they came from but wanted to put a few examples up and get others opinions on piecing the back of a quilt.


This third one I don't feel looks pieced even though it is.

What are your thoughts or personal experiences????

3 comments:

Pat Merkle said...

I think a pieced back is a personal preference and/or a personal statement. I really like some pieced backs, the ones that have some design elements to them, but some just look like a mish/mash of scraps. My "transitions" quilt has a pieced back that I love. Most of my quilts have one fabric on the back. I'll be interested in what others have to say on this topic.

Anonymous said...

i think they look great Kristi.xx

Ann Marie said...

When I learned to quilt, I was told the backing should be muslin. I found out later this was the tradition of a certain area of the country, while other areas have other traditions for backing.

I made my nieces' baby quilts all reversible so those were pieced and I think they came out great, although it was a bit tricky to center front and back correctly, and I quilted them myself on my home machine.

This weekend all I did was piece backs. Yuck! I really hate that part. I prefer all one fabric and as few seams as possible, especially if I'm sending to a longarmer who prefers half-inch seams and shorter stitch length. Also, the math is a lot easier with few pieces!

On the other hand, if I'm trying not to buy new fabric for the back, then I piece. And I don't particularly like all the figuring to make things fit, but I try hard to get fabrics of all the same shade or that coordinate well because then you can use one shade of thread in the bobin and not worry about how it looks as you move across the fabric.

All that to say, it's really up to you and depends on each quilt, who will be quilting it and whether you have what you need in your stash or not. You make the rules!