What This Fabric Is
The Delightfully Yours Navy Cotton Wideback Fabric, sold by the yard at Linda's, is a 108-inch-wide, 100% cotton backing from Moda Fabrics & Supplies, designed by Sherri & Chelsi for their Delightfully Yours group. The deep navy ground is the point: it gives the back of a quilt the same intention and polish as the front, especially when the top is light, white-heavy, or scrappy and needs a strong, calm colour to frame it.
Navy is a hard-working backing colour. It does not show everyday lint the way black can, it hides quilting stitches and small marks more gracefully than a pale solid, and it pairs naturally with red, white, aqua, pink, yellow, and mixed scrappy prints. If your quilt will be folded over a sofa or turned down on a bed, a navy back holds its own instead of looking like an afterthought.
The width matters just as much. 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 gives 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. 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.
Cotton vs. Minky vs. Flannel
Cotton, like this wideback, is the all-purpose choice: breathable, stable, easy to press, and it quilts and washes predictably. Minky is a plush polyester knit — soft and warm, but stretchy and heavier under the needle. Flannel sits in between: cotton, but brushed for softness and warmth, with more tendency to shrink. If you want a classic, durable finish that keeps a quilt looking crisp, cotton is the right call. Choose minky when plush warmth matters more than crispness, and flannel when you want extra cosiness without the stretch of a knit.
Working Tips
Press the fold out before you do anything else. Widebacks arrive folded, and that centre crease can be stubborn. Press from the wrong side with steam, working across the width in sections, and let the fabric cool flat before you roll or baste it. Navy can show pressing shine, so use a press cloth if your iron runs hot.
Think about prewashing with a saturated colour like navy. If your quilt top is mostly white or very pale, prewashing the backing the way you will wash the finished quilt is a sensible precaution against excess dye, and it removes sizing so layers grip evenly. Wash dark and light pieces separately the first time, then press again while the cotton is just barely damp.
On a longarm, load the backing with the width running across the frame, keep tension even, and check that the piece is on straight as you advance — a dark back reveals a skewed load quickly. At home, the generous width means a flatter, simpler sandwich to baste, with no pieced seam to centre. Save offcuts, too: navy cotton makes smart binding, pillow backs, and tote linings.
Care
Treat the finished quilt as you would any cotton quilt: wash cool and gentle, with like colours for the first few washes, and dry on low to medium or line dry. Cotton softens with washing while keeping its shape, and deep navy holds up best kept out of prolonged harsh sunlight.
Shop the Delightfully Yours Navy Cotton Wideback Fabric Per Yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
