What This Fabric Is
The Luxe Cuddle Hide Mallard Fabric, sold by the yard at Linda's, is a Luxe Cuddle minky plush from Shannon Fabrics. Despite the name, this "hide" is not made with real animal hide at all — it is made with plush 100% polyester fibers, with a textured surface that features a chic animal hide embossed design. In the Mallard colorway, it brings a rich, textured look to a backing or blanket without using any animal product.
What sets it apart is its pile. At 10mm, it is noticeably plusher than a smooth, short-pile minky. Shannon notes it has been sewn into everything from baby blankets and apparel to quilts and home decor. You feel the embossing as well as the softness, which makes a quilt back feel finished and intentional.
How to Choose a Backing: Start With the Size Math
Use the standard rule before you order any backing: 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 gives a home quilter room to baste and square up cleanly.
Width matters here: this Luxe Cuddle Hide is 58/60 inches wide, not 108 inches. That makes it a seamless backing for baby quilts and smaller throws — a 40-by-50-inch baby quilt needs about 48 by 58 inches, which fits across the width. For a larger top, plan on seaming two lengths together. Always check your top's width, plus 8 inches, against the fabric width before ordering.
Cotton vs. Minky vs. Flannel
A 108-inch cotton wideback is the stable, breathable, all-purpose choice: easy to press, easy to load, and seamless for most quilts. Flannel is cotton brushed for softness — warmer and cozier than plain cotton, but with more shrinkage to plan for. Minky, like this Luxe Cuddle Hide, is a plush polyester knit: the warmest and softest in hand, with real drape and texture, but also stretchier and thicker under the needle because of that 10mm pile. Choose this Mallard hide when the feel of the back matters as much as the look of the front — for a baby blanket, a cuddly throw, or a quilt that will be wrapped around someone, not just folded on a bed.
Working Tips
Press with care. Do not press the pile flat with a hot iron the way you would a cotton wideback — heat and pressure can crush the texture. If you need to smooth the fold line, press lightly from the wrong side on a low setting, or let the fabric relax flat, and test on a scrap first.
Do not prewash the way you might a cotton backing. If you pair this minky with a cotton top, prewash the cotton if shrinkage is a concern. When quilting, go slowly: the pile and knit base can shift, so baste generously, use a longer stitch, keep quilting open rather than dense, and check with your longarm quilter before loading.
Care
Care is specific for this fabric, so follow it exactly: machine wash cold with like colors, use no fabric softener, tumble dry with no heat, and use no dryer sheet. Those "no" rules protect the polyester pile — softeners and dryer sheets can coat the fibers and flatten the softness you bought the fabric for, and heat can damage the plush finish. Wash it gently, dry it cool, and that 10mm embossed pile will stay soft and textured.
If you want a backing with real texture — an embossed hide look, a deep plush pile, and none of the animal hide — Luxe Cuddle Hide in Mallard is a thoughtful choice for baby quilts, throws, apparel, and home decor projects where comfort leads.
Shop the Luxe Cuddle Hide Mallard Fabric per yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
