Patterns By Jen: Pieced Backings - Using yardage tutorial

A new pattern, The Border Quilt 4, means a new pieced backing tutorial!

I love a pieced backing. 1) It adds interest. 2) It uses up almost all of the extra fabric.

Sometimes when you have to order online to get fabric for a quilt you need to order more than you need because of the minimal requirement. You can see this The Border Quilt 4 wall hanging doesn't use a lot of fabric. Then add to it that I cut wrong and had to order more. . . my human-ness never shows up more than when I sew. . . I had more fabric left over than I liked. (I don't like to hang onto a lot of fabric.) Here is how I used it.

When it's this small I like to just lay out the top, for larger tops I measure and add the extra 4" around for quilting.

Then, I start laying out my fabrics. The size of this wall hanging means I don't have to add length to the yardage, I just kept selvages on.

I started with the dark orange on the bottom, planning to use the dark print in the middle. I also had the lighter orange at the top, but I really didn't like how that felt. The lighter orange is also the binding and I didn't want it to blend in all the way along the top. (Note! Make sure, if you are using the binding fabric, that you cut that first before adding the leftover to the backing!)

Instead, I decided to do more of a gradient type backing. This just feels good to me. When you have multiple strips, feel free to play around, step back and take a look. If you are really struggling with the layout take a picture and look at that instead. Sometimes it really helps to take a picture and turn it to black and white to see the contrast.

What my set up really looked like while I took pictures. Ha! When choosing the width of the strips I only made sure it would cover from top to bottom. I love when the strips are not the same width, but you can always trim them to the same width. Make sure to straighten each edge you are sewing!

I press the seams all the same direction, but it really doesn't matter.

Once my backing is pieced I lay the top on it to make sure I have enough fabric all the way around. Note: Since I quilt my own I knew I didn't need to have as much extra on the top and bottom, because I have leaders and enders I can attach for my Babylock Coronet.

To make sure my strips remain straight on the back I line up the seams on the back with seams on the quilt top and make sure they are aligned the same on the other side.