QUICK TIP: Hiding the backs of your quilts
Sometimes my art quilts have heavy quilting on them – lots of thread-painting, and other thread enhancements to create a picture. The front of the quilt looks gorgeous! But the back of the quilt…not so much.
Some non-quilters, being curious people, scrutinize the back. In doing so, they can pass a lot of negative judgment, which is annoying at the least and difficult to handle at the worst.
My way of dealing with that is to not give the opportunity for such comments. If I make an art quilt that has heavy quilting and is to be hung on the wall, I cover the back with an additional piece of fabric after the quilting is done. I may need to attach this final backing with some straight-line quilting just to keep it in place, so it doesn’t sag, but no more than that.
Some may say that if it is to be hung on a wall this is unnecessary since the back won’t be seen (much like the back of a painting in a frame). While this is true for many people, there are always those who see textile art as something to experience tactilely (i.e., something to touch and feel). Unless it is in a frame, behind glass, or otherwise protected from that experience, I have found many people like to touch it. Once it is in their house, I cannot stop them from doing that. So, my work-around is to cover the back with a piece of fabric that leads to a focus on the artwork, not the behind-the-scenes work!
Click on the photos below to see a description of the whys and wherefores of what I did!
