What This Fabric Is
The Blue Starlight Cotton Wideback Fabric, sold by the yard at Linda's Electric Quilters, is a 108-inch cotton wideback made by Kanvas Studio for Benartex. Its starlight pattern scatters stars across a blue ground — a night-sky finish that gives the back of a quilt a design worth looking at, not just a plain surface hiding underneath. The blue-and-stars combination also makes it a natural partner for patriotic projects, where it can carry the theme right through to the reverse side.
Because it is a true wideback, it provides the extra width larger projects need in a single piece. That saves you from piecing standard-width fabric together and gives your project a seamless finish — no centre seam to line up, no extra bulk in the quilt sandwich, and no seam allowance shadowing through under the quilting. The product description notes it is made of top-quality cotton, chosen for durability and comfort, so it behaves like the quilting cotton you already know from the front of your quilts.
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, clamp, and advance the quilt, and gives a home quilter room to baste securely and quilt right out to the edges as the layers shift slightly during quilting.
Now run the numbers against a 108-inch width. Tops up to 100 inches wide fit across a single width with no piecing. A 60 by 72 inch throw needs a 68 by 80 inch backing — one width covers the 68-inch side easily, and 80 inches of length is just over 2-1/4 yards. A 72 by 90 inch twin needs an 80 by 98 inch backing, just over 2-3/4 yards, so order 3. A 90 by 100 inch queen needs 98 by 108 inches, which fits the width at exactly 3 yards. For any size, take the longer backing dimension, divide by 36, and round up to the next yard — and if your top is wider than 100 inches, rotate it if the star pattern allows, or plan a pieced backing instead.
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, quilts cleanly, and stays seamless for almost any quilt size. Flannel is brushed cotton — warmer and cosier, with more shrinkage to plan for and a softer, matte look. Minky is plush polyester — soft and drapy, but stretchier, sensitive to high heat, and usually narrower than 108 inches. Choose this cotton Starlight wideback when you want a smooth, dependable back with a print that earns its place: patriotic and Quilts of Valor style tops, night-sky and celestial quilts, kids' quilts with a space or stars theme, and any project where the back should tell part of the story.
Working Tips: Pressing the Fold, Prewashing, and Longarm Loading
Pressing the fold: Wideback yardage arrives folded, and cotton remembers the crease. Unfold it fully and press with a warm iron from the centre outward. For a stubborn centre fold, a light spritz of water or a pass of steam usually settles it — a crease left in place can quilt in permanently and catch the light across your stars.
Prewashing: Cotton widebacks can shrink slightly and release excess dye, and a saturated blue is exactly the colour family worth checking. If your quilt top fabrics were prewashed, prewash the backing the same way; test a small cut with a white cloth if you are worried about colour transfer, and wash dark blues separately the first time. If your top was not prewashed, you can skip it and let everything shrink together on the finished quilt's first wash.
Longarm loading: Load the backing with the 108-inch width running across the frame rails so the length advances as you quilt. Check that the fabric is square before clamping, keep the tension even, and let the star print run in one consistent direction from top to bottom so the sky reads correctly when the quilt is on a bed. Centre the top with its 4 inches of overhang on every side, and smooth — don't stretch — as you roll.
Care
Care for the finished quilt the way you would any cotton quilt: machine wash cool or warm on a gentle cycle with a mild detergent, and tumble dry low or line dry. The cotton will soften with washing while the construction holds up to regular use. For the first wash of a deep blue backing, washing separately or with like colours is a sensible precaution against any residual dye.
Shop the Blue Starlight Cotton Wideback Fabric Per Yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
