Piecing a Scrappy Quilt Backing

 Back in my earlier years of quilting most of my quilt backs were made from a flat sheet or scraps of fabric from the quilt top and smaller pieces of yardage.  These days most of my quilt backings are pieced from one fabric or a wide quilt backing.  Wide quilt backings are great when quilting on a longarm.  It makes the loading of the quilt to the frame a breeze.  They are also convenient, expensive and in my opinion boring.  I love a pieced quilt backing.  It adds a little whimsy and character to the quilt.  Sure it takes a little more time but it's worth it to use up some of the ever growing stash.   With this quilt I've decided to get back to my roots and make a scrappy backing from the quilt top scraps and some green yardage from my stash.

The backing didn't come together as quickly as I had hoped.  Two hours!  My goodness it was a real chore.  My head just wasn't in the game.  It was one error after another.  Miscuts and sewing mistakes.  The red arrow shows the seam that gave me so much trouble.  The first mistake was cutting.  Measure twice, cut once is the rule.  Well I measured 3 times and still cut it wrong.   After fixing that issue I sewed them with wrong sides together.  The numbers below show the order in which I sewed the fabrics together.  Piece 3 was another sewing error.   Somehow I sewed it just below piece 2.  Had I pinned them together I would have caught my mistake before sewing due to they are different lengths.  At this point I was getting a little....lets say grouchy.  No seam ripper required when you are a little grouchy.  I literally ripped the seam with my bare hands by pulling on the fabrics.  It made me feel better.  The grouchy mood was ripped right out of me.

Thankfully adding the quilt label was smooth sailing.   A simple framed square label, machine appliqued into place.  

Instead of matching the thread to the fabric I used a white thread and a tiny blanket stitch.  I thought this would make the  label stand out and give the backing some more visual interest.  

There's no hurry to finish this quilt.  It's for Mr. Podunk to use when camping.  His next camping trip is in the Fall.  So this will be stored away for a few weeks before quilting.  Almost all of my quilts needing to be quilted are stored with backing and binding.

Lets hope the quilt police don't see me storing them in a plastic bag.  It's the easiest way to keep them all together.  Now to find a place for them in the dresser full of quilts to be quilted.  Maybe I should see what's hiding in there.  I might find a hidden treasure!  I let you know .

Pin It