What This Fabric Is
The Multi Sunshine Blue Skies Cloud Wideback Fabric, sold by the yard at Linda's Electric Quilters, is a 108-inch-wide, 100% cotton quilt backing from Moda Fabrics & Supplies. It was designed by Create Joy Project for the Sunshine And Blue Skies group, and the product details list its colour as Multi, its theme as Quilt Backs, its origin as Made in Pakistan, and its stock number as 108020-11. As the name suggests, this is a cheerful sky print — sunshine, blue skies, and clouds spread across a full extra-wide cut.
That 108-inch width is the whole point of a wideback. Instead of piecing lengths of standard 44-inch quilting cotton together and living with seams across the back, you can back most quilts with one seamless panel. A bright all-over sky print also turns the back into a second finished side, not a plain afterthought.
How Much Backing Do You Really Need? Top Plus 8 Inches
Start with the standard rule: 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, pin, and clamp, and gives a home quilter room to baste securely and quilt to the edges as layers shift.
Run the math against a 108-inch width. A throw top at 60 by 72 inches needs a 68 by 80 inch backing — the width fits easily in one panel, and 80 inches of length is about 2-1/4 yards, so order 2-1/2 yards to be safe. A queen top at 90 by 96 inches needs a 98 by 104 inch backing — still under the 108-inch width, so one panel works, and 104 inches of length is just under 3 yards, so order 3 yards. Only a top wider than about 100 inches outgrows a single width. Because this is an all-over design, direction matters less than with a one-way print, which makes your yardage go further.
Cotton, Minky, or Flannel? Choosing the Right Feel
A 108-inch cotton wideback like this one is the stable, breathable default: it presses crisply, does not stretch, feeds evenly, and covers most tops seamlessly. Minky is a plush polyester — soft and warm, but it has stretch and pile, needs gentler handling, and usually comes in narrower widths that require a seam on larger quilts. Flannel is brushed cotton, warmer than plain quilting cotton and good at gripping batting, but it shrinks more and is bulkier to load. Choose cotton for a crisp, dependable back, minky when cuddliness is the priority, and flannel when extra warmth matters most.
Working Tips: Pressing the Fold, Prewashing, and Longarm Loading
Pressing the fold: Widebacks arrive folded, and that centre crease can be stubborn. Unfold the fabric promptly, press from the wrong side with a warm iron and steam, and work the crease out in sections. Hanging the backing overnight also helps the fold relax.
Prewashing: Cotton can shrink a little and release excess dye, so many quilters prewash a cotton backing — especially a saturated multi-colour print like this one — with a colour catcher the first wash. If you prewash the backing, prewash any unwashed cotton in the top too, so everything shrinks consistently. Press and re-check your top-plus-8 measurements before loading.
Longarm loading: Load the backing with the length running along the rollers, keep tension even without stretching — cotton has very little give — and confirm your 4-inch overhang stays even on all four sides. At home, that same margin gives you room to tape or pin-baste flat and still quilt to the very edge.
Care
As a 100% cotton backing, this fabric cares for like other quality quilting cottons: wash the finished quilt in cold water on a gentle cycle and tumble dry low or line dry to protect the print and the quilting stitches. That gentle routine helps the blues and sunshine colours stay bright wash after wash, so the sky on the back stays as cheerful as the day you finished the quilt.
Shop the Multi Sunshine Blue Skies Cloud Wideback Fabric Per Yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
