What This Fabric Is
The Pink Burgundy Fluidity Cotton Wideback Fabric, sold by the yard at Linda's, is a 108-inch-wide cotton backing from P&B Textiles. Instead of a dark, brown-leaning burgundy, this one leans pink: a burgundy-pink shade that adds warmth and a hint of elegance to the back of a quilt without shouting over the top. The product description highlights the fabric's fluidity and flexibility, noting that it is easy to work with and that the high-quality cotton is made for lasting use, even with regular wear.
That matters, because a backing is the largest single piece of fabric in most quilts — and the side that sits against laps, couches, and bed sheets. At 108 inches wide, this cotton backs most quilts in one seamless piece: no piecing, no seam allowance math, and no seam line running down the middle of your finished work.
How to Choose a Backing: Start With the Size Math
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, clamp, and advance the quilt, and gives a home quilter room to baste securely and quilt right out to the edges.
Now run the numbers against a 108-inch width. Any top whose shorter side, plus 8 inches, is 108 inches or less fits in one piece — so tops up to 100 inches wide need no piecing. A 60 by 72 inch throw needs a 68 by 80 inch backing: one width covers the 68-inch side, and 80 inches of length is just over 2-1/4 yards. A 90 by 100 inch quilt needs 98 by 108 inches — still inside one width, at exactly 3 yards. To order, take the longer finished backing dimension, divide by 36, and round up to the next yard.
Cotton vs. Minky vs. Flannel
Cotton wideback, usually 108 inches like this one, is the stable, breathable, all-purpose choice: it presses crisply, does not stretch, feeds evenly, and offers the widest coverage. Flannel is brushed cotton — warmer and cozier, but with more shrinkage to plan for and a grippier surface. Minky is the comfort choice: plush polyester, warm and drapier, but typically narrower and stretchier in handling. Choose a cotton wideback like this Fluidity when you want a smooth, dependable back that behaves well on the frame or under the needle and shows quilting stitches cleanly. Choose the pink burgundy colorway when the back deserves to be seen — on quilts folded back at the foot of a bed, draped over a chair, or given as gifts.
Working Tips: Folds, Washing, and Loading
Pressing the fold: wideback yardage arrives folded, and cotton keeps that crease. Unfold it fully, then press with a warm iron from the center outward. For a stubborn center fold, a light spritz of water and a second pass usually settles it — a crease left in the backing can quilt in permanently.
Prewashing: cotton can shrink slightly, so many quilters prewash a backing, especially when the top was made from prewashed fabrics, so everything shrinks together later. If you prewash, dry, press, and re-measure and square the backing before basting. If your top is unwashed quilting cotton, using the backing unwashed is equally common; consistency between top and back is the goal.
Longarm loading: check that the backing is square before it goes on the frame, load it with even tension, and confirm your plus-8-inches overhang is still there after squaring — trimming an off-grain edge is where backing inches quietly disappear.
Care
Finished quilts backed in quilting cotton are made to be used and washed. Wash in cool to warm water on a gentle cycle with like colors, and tumble dry on low or line dry. The rich pink burgundy shade will thank you for keeping early washes color-separated. Treated that way, a cotton back softens a little with every wash while holding its color and structure — exactly what you want from a quilt that gets loved for years.
Shop the Pink Burgundy Fluidity Cotton Wideback Fabric per yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
