What This Fabric Is
The Natural Starry Wideback Fabric, sold by the yard at Linda's, is a 108-inch-wide, 100% cotton backing from Ruby Star Society, designed by Alexia Abegg as part of the Starry group (stock # RS4111 35, made in Pakistan). The colour is simply called Natural — a soft, light neutral ground — and the fabric takes its name from the star motif that gives the Starry collection its character. Instead of a plain solid on the back of your quilt, you get a light neutral with a little personality: a backing that goes with almost everything, but rewards a second look when the quilt is folded back or draped over a sofa.
The width is the practical headline. Standard quilting cotton is roughly 44 inches wide, so backing most quilts normally means seaming lengths together. At 108 inches, one continuous piece covers most lap, throw, twin, and many queen-size tops with no centre seam at all.
How to Choose a Backing: Size Math First
Use the standard rule before you order: your backing should measure your quilt top plus 8 inches in both directions — 4 extra inches on every side. That overhang gives a longarm quilter room to load and advance the quilt, and a home quilter room to baste and square up cleanly.
Worked examples make the yardage simple. A 60-by-72-inch throw needs a backing of about 68 by 80 inches. The 68-inch side fits easily across the 108-inch width, so you only need the 80-inch length — just over 2¼ yards, since 80 divided by 36 is about 2.2. A 70-by-90-inch twin needs about 78 by 98 inches: the 78-inch side fits across the width, and 98 inches of length is about 2¾ yards. Before ordering, always check your top's wider dimension, plus 8, against the 108-inch width. If it fits, one uncut width does the whole job.
A natural, light-toned backing sits comfortably behind almost any top — scrappy quilts, pastels, bright modern work, and traditional blocks alike — and because it is light, it is less likely to shadow through a pale top the way a dark backing sometimes can. The star print adds just enough interest that the back feels finished and intentional, rather than an afterthought.
Cotton, Minky, or Flannel?
Cotton is the all-purpose backing: it presses crisply, feeds predictably, quilts cleanly, and keeps the finished quilt light enough for year-round use. It is also the most forgiving partner for a cotton top, because top and back behave similarly in the wash. Minky, a plush polyester, adds warmth and a cuddly hand, but its stretch and pile change how a quilt drapes and how stitches show. Flannel sits in between, brushed and cosy for winter quilts, though it can shrink more noticeably and adds bulk. For an everyday quilt, a smooth printed cotton like this Natural Starry is the dependable default — and a small motif is more forgiving of lint and creases than a stark flat solid.
Working Tips
Press the fold out before you measure. Widebacks arrive folded, and a centre crease can resist a single pass; press with steam from the wrong side, then let the fabric cool flat before cutting or loading. Prewashing is a personal choice with cotton: a light natural carries little dye risk, but prewashing still lets any shrinkage happen before quilting rather than after, which matters if your top was made from prewashed fabric. Square the piece before it goes on the frame — a skewed cut end becomes a skewed quilt on a longarm.
On the longarm, a wide single piece has no seam to act as a stabiliser, so load it smoothly, keep tension even, and check while loading that the piece is on straight; a light background makes drift easy to spot early. At home, the same width means a flatter, simpler sandwich to baste.
Care
Treat the finished quilt as you would any cotton quilt: wash cool and gentle, and dry low to medium or line dry. Cotton softens with washing while keeping its shape, and a natural-toned backing ages gracefully.
Shop the Natural Starry Wideback Fabric per yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
