We’ve worked through a huge portion of completing the Easy Block Quilt, including Assembling the Blocks and Piecing the Sashing & Borders, but what about the back?!
Materials
1 1/2 yards fabric
sewing machine and tools
rotary cutter and cutting mat
iron and ironing board
quilting rulers
safety pins {LOTS}
batting, twin size
Cuts
this depends on what/how you want to piece the back together…
Obviously you’ll need enough fabric to cover the entire size of your quilt. The final front piece should measure approximately 55″ x 55″. It may be a little smaller or larger {hey, not everyone’s perfect}. For the back of my quilt, I was able to find what is called a “panel of fabric”. Essentially it’s a large block that already looked a little “patchwork-y” {yes, I add “-y” to the end of words when I shouldn’t}. It wasn’t quite large enough to cover the quilt, so I used my leftover white fabric to create a 2.5″ border around it, similar to the border on the front side.
There are tons of options for your quilt back. I would try to keep it simple since the front has so much going on. Stick to one fabric, possibly two. It needs to look clean!
Once it’s assembled, you’re ready to make that “quilt sandwich”. Before you start layering, give the back and the top a really good ironing session. Crisp lines are easiest to work with, so take the time to make it look nice and smooth.
When I make my quilt sandwiches, I assemble them in a carpeted room because I find it easier to pin that way. Lay the back piece on the carpet, wrong side facing up. Place the quilt batting on top of that and finally lay the front piece on the very top, right side facing out.
Now to pin…
…and pin and pin and pin. I pin in straight rows and add a pin every 5 inches or so. Some may think that’s overkill, but I’d rather over pin than under pin and risk my layers moving around on me. Once I get everything pinned, I trim the excess batting and go around each edge of the quilt with my rotary cutter making sure all layers are even and equal.
Stay tuned for quilting & binding coming up in the next post!
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