rough circles quilt along...part six

A beautiful quilt front is just itching to be attached to some batting and a backing piece of fabric.  A good amount of hard work has gone into the front and research has been made on the style of quilting you wish to do. Now you are ready!

I only have one last suggestion...spend some time on your backing.  You have put hours, days and weeks into the front of that quilt.  Why just be happy with a solid piece of fabric for the back?  I am not encouarging you  to create a whole other pieced part for the back, but think about it a bit, be creative.  I am fond of penny strips.  When you make larger quilts it is necessary to attach two pieces of fabric together in the back to create enough coverage.  Might as well create it with some style sense.  For the majority of the back I have a fun whale youth print, then my penny strip comes next and I finished it off with a simple Kona solid.  For the penny strip I just sewed a bunch of very thin pieces of scrap together and then attached several together.  Easy, peasy!

After you have the front and back ready to go all you are going to do is make a simple sandwich! Here is the recipe:

Lay down your backing so the right side is facing down.  I prefer to put down another blanket first so I can easily pull it all up if need be.

Next, add your batting being sure to have extra coverage on all four sides.

Next, add your quilt top and trim off the excess batting while leaving some extra allowance on the outer edges.

Last, grab those pins!  You want to make sure that you pin everything down nice and snug while making sure all three parts of your sandwich are smooth and tight.  It helps to start from the center and work your way out!  Once you have everything pinned you can get quilting!  Next week we will finish this quilt along...maybe just in time for someone's 30th birthday and a snow storm? (keep your fingers crossed!)

-melissa