Wide quilt backing fabric is ultra-wide fabric designed specifically to back your quilts! This fabric is so wide – usually about 108″ wide to cover your whole quilt with just one piece.
Wide Quilt Backing Fabric
Wide quilt fabric is called “wideback” fabric. Your local quilt shop probably carries some in their store! Just ask for the quilt backs or wide backs.
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The best quilt backing fabrics
Here is a list of a whole bunch of wide backs that are ready to finish your quilt with! I usually get 2-3 yards and can squeeze 1-2 quilt backs out of it.
- Whatnot 108″ Wide Sateen Peach Hanna Wideback Yardage
- Whatnot 108″ Wide Sateen Goldenrod Hanna Wideback Yardage
- Whatnot 108″ Wide Sateen Blue Ribbon Hanna Wideback Yardage
- Widescreen 108″ Wide Black Yardage
- Henry Glass 108″ Digital Houndstooth Yardage
- Pinkerville 108″ Wide Cotton Candy Yardage
- Pink Splatter 108″ Wide White and Multi
- Blossom 108″ Peacock Yardage (lots of colors available!)
- Flea Market 108″ Wide Red Roses Yardage
- Santee Print Works 108″ Wide Magenta
- Rise 108″ Wide Sateen Shell Beam Yardage
- Kimberbell Black Tiny Dots 108″ Yardage
- Packed Cats 108″ Wide White All Over
- Many Colored Dots 108″ Wide Yardage
- Curiouser and Curiouser 108″ Wide Wonder Big Buds
- Farm Girl Vintage Cottage Farm Life 108″
- Essentials 108″ Wide Gray Venetian Texture
- Kona Cotton 108″ Wide Solid Coal Yardage
- Bella Solids 108″ Wide Red Yardage
- Whistler Linen 108″ Chicken Wire Yardage
This gorgeous floral is my current favorite backing fabric. I’ve already backed 2 quilts with it and I’m not not going to use it again ;)
Make your own quilt backing
To make your own quilt backing, purchase enough regular width yardage to cover the back of your quilt. You will have to sew 2 or 3 pieces together depending on the width of your quilt.
I love finding a backing that matches the front perfectly without trying and that’s what happened with the Summer Camp Quilt. I found this awesome floral backing with about the same colors so I went with it. I got enough yardage to sew together to cover the back.
Using regular width fabric (typically 42-44″) gives you a lot more options! Walk into a fabric store and pick anything – just remember to get enough yardage!
If you are taking your quilt to a longarm quilter – keep in mind that they usually like to have at least 6″ extra fabric around each side of the quilt.
A lot of times I will use the same fabric for the backing and the binding. I love how that looks on the Modern Arrows baby quilt above!
Quilt Backing Alternatives
One of my favorite tricks is to use a sheet as the back of my fabric. Sheet sets usually have a flat sheet and a fitted sheet. You may able to get a few quilt backs out of one sheet set, depending on the size of your quilts. I’ll usually get either a twin or full sheet set for a throw size quilt.
I used a fairly neutral Hogwarts sheet for the back of my son’s herringbone Harry Potter quilt!
The sheet itself is pretty soft, too, making the quilt extra cozy.
Sheets are a great option since they can be very cheap! I especially love using sheets for kid quilts, since I can pick a cute theme or favorite character. For the back of the Bow Quilt, I used an LOL doll sheet – for the front I used a color palette to match!
Another option is to check thrift stores for vintage sheets.
I hope this post helps you find the perfect backing for your quilt! What is your favorite way to back a quilt?
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