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Tips for Quilting a Cuddle Fleece Back – video tutorial

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I love using cuddle fleece for my quilt backs.

When I made the first cat quilt for my daughter Jo, she asked for cuddle fleece on the back. Until then I had only used it for stuffed animals, but she thought it would make an exceptionally cuddly quilt.

She was right.

After sleeping under it the first night she came to me and very seriously said, “Mommy. You should never use anything else on the back of your quilts.”

She was right again. 🙂

Wonderfully – I’ve found that it’s no harder to work with than a woven fabric on the back!

Note – I’ve heard from a few people with Brother machines that they do NOT like pulling the cuddle fleece through. We think it might be that the Brother feed dogs are less “grabby” than other manufacturers? Just be aware – if you have a Brother machine you may need to give it some extra help to get it to move through the machine.

A lot of people have asked me whether they have to do anything special to use cuddle fleece on the back of their quilts.

  • Do they need to use a special needle?
  • Do they needle to use a particular thread?
  • Do they have to use a walking foot?
  • Can I show actually doing some of the quilting?
  • Can I show what it looks like from the back?

I can show you all of that!

I’ve made a bunch of these now and I’ve found that I don’t really need to treat it any different from using a woven fabric background. In fact – I think it’s even less likely to get tiny folds or puckers in it. 🙂

A note about the fluff. . .

By the time I get to the backing/quilting/binding step of a project I’m always super excited to finish – and I don’t take the time to tumble the backing in the dryer to get rid of the fluff on those cut edges. 😛 If you’re more patient than me. . .

  • Cut the backing to size
  • Toss it in the dryer on air dry for 15-20 minutes. That will pull almost all of the fuzz off the edges and catch it in the lint trap.
  • Proceed as normal – baste, quilt and bind wearing whatever you want and not worrying about getting too messy. 🙂

Cuddle fleece makes an extra cuddly quilt with (in my opinion) the perfect weight. And it washes and wears beautifully!

Here are all my posts about layering and basting your quilt, and the final round of quilting.

Here are all my posts about hand quilting and Big Stitch quilting. I don’t use these techniques with fusible applique or Quilt As You Go, but I LOVE using Big Stitch Quilting with my cheater fabric.

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about binding and finishing your quilt.

Happy quilting!

19 COMMENTS

  1. Jen D SAYS...

    This was fabulous, thank you!

  2. Stephanie SAYS...

    How do you make it wide enough and not bulky?

    • The cuddle fleece is wider than a woven cotton and one width is enough for the crib or napping size of all my quilts. When I make a twin size quilt I have to seam the back. The patterns all include cutting and layout instructions for that. Just make sure to cut off the selvedge (it’s bulkier than the rest of the fabric) and sew it together like any other.

      • Ann Schmidt SAYS...

        For larger blankets I buy a fleece blanket and use that as the backing. that way I have no seams on the back. They come in King and Queen sizes, and the measurement is on the packaging.

  3. Donelle SAYS...

    Great video. Thanks for making it and sharing. I find cuddle fleece is very easy to work with.

  4. Shannon SAYS...

    Thank you so much! I had heard that cuddle fleece was a pain to use for quilt backing, but you make it look so easy! I’ve already cut my cuddle fleece to size and I was a little intimated about going forward, but now I’m excited to keep going! Thank you for showing us how to keep things simple and for explaining all the steps so well!

    • Have fun with it! The only people I’ve heard from that have had any problems with it are people with a particular model of Brother machine. It seems like the teeth of its feed dogs are less “grabby” than other machines and it doesn’t pull the fleece through as well as it should.

  5. polly SAYS...

    The videos are great! I’m working on the Kitties and Puppies. I’ve turned them into pillows and now am making blankets. How do you bind the QAYG blankets backed with the cuddle fleece? Will a satin blanket binding work? Do you make your own satin binding? Do you use Cuddle fleece?

  6. Sue SAYS...

    Have you used cuddle fleece on the back of a tee shirt quilt? My niece would like cuddle on the back of hers. I am quilting the tee shirts to flannel, and plan to use your method of quilting to the fleece. I hope it works!

  7. Judy SAYS...

    Which way does the stretch go on a long arm for cuddle backing

    • I run mine across the quilt, but I’m not sure it matters. I do it that way because I like the nap of the cuddle to feel “right” when I stroke down from the top of the quilt to the bottom. Like petting a cat the right way. 🙂

  8. Brenda SAYS...

    I’m assuming you bind a cuddle fleece backed quilt with cuddle fleece as well??

  9. Brenda SAYS...

    Oops, I just found the answer to my question! lol