I am glad this subject came up because I am thinking of piecing my backgrounds. I suppose if I had thought about it, Margo, I would have realized that keeping the back lined up right could be challenging, but I may not have thought about it until I actually did the first quilt or two with pieced backs. Thanks for showing us your beautiful quilt back with the bow.

Thanks Margo. I can't trim off the front so I think I will rethink the back. I have learned from this mistake but it isn't too bad as I can use the original back for a new top. Best mistake I have ever made.
Yours is beautiful even with the bow.

Okay Margo...if you insist...I'll hang around...

Oh, no! Barbara, please don't go!!

I was just trying to show that it's do-able, but there are likely to be issues! I made my first quilt in 1963, so I've probably had more practice than you, and that's what it takes for most of us to produce more complicated projects.

I encourage everyone to do the best you can do with the skills you have today. Continue to learn something new with every project, and your skills will be better for the projects you do tomorrow!

Margo...that is the back of your quilt??!! Oh...wow!
Sugarmuffin...yeah, what Margo said. If you can afford to trim a 1/2 inch or so off the front you should be okay.
(My quilt fronts don't look as good as Margo's quilt backs...I'm done quilting... that's it...I'm packing up my machine and putting my stash on ebay)

That would work, but there is a chance that by the time you have quilted all of it, the edges will probably have shifted some, and I seriously doubt that all the edges will line up exactly, so all four sides may need to be trimmed a little. If that's not a problem with your design, you could certainly give it a try.

I'll show you what I mean. I recently did this quilt on my long-arm. This is the pieced back and I was able to get the center of the back lined up absolutely with the center of the front. It was loaded so that I started quilting at the bottom edge of the quilt, and by the time I got to the top, the backing had stretched a little in the center, and you can see that the seam at the top is not exactly straight, but has a slight bow in it. If I had been more aware, I might have been able to ease in that 1/2", but it may have caused tucks in the backing, and I think that this is less obvious. If the top and backing had been the same size, this side would have needed trimming. As it is, this is the back, and I said that "finished is better than perfect!"

Hello everyone. I made a big OOPS. I wanted to make a reversible quilt so I used large squares the size of the blocks on the quilt top to make the back. Just as I finished I had a lightbulb moment and realized I had make the back the exact size as the front. I know I need approximately 5 inches all around to quilt on the longarm or even a domestic. Can I add a temporary border then take it off when I am done quilting?
If not I guess I can just use the back for a totally different quilt and start over on the back. Any Advice would be appreciated.