Now that the quilt top is finished it is time to select the fabric for the backing and binding. A quilt is similar to a sandwich. It has the pretty top, batting in the center to give it warmth and depth and a bottom. The bottom is usually a solid piece of fabric in a matching fabric to the top. Once all of this is assembled and quilted then binding is applied to seal the sandwich up.

What I decided was to take all the fabric I had pulled for the quilt and do an audition to see which ones would work best. Some were eliminated quickly since they were not big enough for the backing. Right away I decided on the fabric for the binding. It has a nice abstract mix of the browns and blues the top has.

The fabric for the binding is the top right one.   The blue with suns is too bright and is not big enough to do the job.  The two dark fabrics on the top left and center just don’t suit the job either.  That narrowed it down to three options.

The center black cross design and the lighter black just are too much of a contrast to the softer colors on the quilt.   The lower right fabric became the backing.   It is big enough and is the same fabric that is in some of the branches. See the binding selection peeking out on the bottom of the quilt top. It passed the final audition too.

After picking the fabrics next we will iron the backing and measure it for placement.   I wanted to align the pattern on the back so Reggie and I took the project to the bedroom to play with.