How to Piece a Quilt Back When Fabric Isn't Wide Enough

How to Piece a Quilt Back When Fabric Isn't Wide Enough

How to Piece a Quilt Back When Your Fabric Isn’t Wide Enough – Easy Accent Strip & Scrappy Strip Tutorial

✨Easy Accent Strip Ideas for Cozy, Creative Backings

Welcome to the very first Angels Neverland blog post!
I’m so excited to begin sharing cozy quilting tips, beginner-friendly tutorials, and little sparks of handmade joy with you. My hope is that this space becomes a comforting corner of Angels Neverland—a place where you can learn something new, feel inspired, and fall even deeper in love with the magic of quilting.

And what better way to begin than with a solution to one of the most common quilting hiccups? Let’s dive into what to do when your quilt backing fabric is almost wide enough… but not quite.

✂️ Quilt Backing Made Easy:

A Simple Tutorial for When Your Backing Fabric Isn’t Quite Wide Enough

Have you ever measured your quilt top, spread out your backing fabric… and realized you’re just a few inches short? Don’t worry — this happens all the time, especially with throw-size quilts and standard 42–44" wide cottons. The good news is that you can still create a beautiful, professional-looking quilt back without buying extra yardage.

Here at Angels Neverland, one of my favorite go-to solutions is the accent strip backing. It’s beginner-friendly, it looks intentional and boutique, and it’s perfect for quilts that are almost within backing width but need a little help.

🌼 Why You Might Need to Piece a Quilt Back

Most quilting cottons come in widths of about 42–44 inches. But when you’re backing a quilt, you usually need:

  • The width of your quilt top
  • Plus extra on each side for quilting, trimming, and squaring up

For example, if your quilt top is 48" wide, many quilters prefer a backing that is about 56–60" wide. That gives extra room for:

  • Longarm quilting
  • Shifting during quilting
  • Trimming and squaring up after quilting

That’s where the accent strip comes in and saves the day.

🌈 The Accent Strip Method: Simple & Stylish

The idea is wonderfully simple:

You take two backing pieces and sew a coordinating accent strip between them. That strip:

  • Adds the extra width you need
  • Shows off a fun print or leftover fabric
  • Turns a “fabric shortage” into a charming design detail

Let’s look at two versions:

  1. A classic version (great if you have extra yardage)
  2. A fabric-saving version using just one 2-yard cut for a 48" × 60" quilt (plus a bonus scrappy strip version)

✂️ Step-by-Step Basics: How to Add an Accent Strip

No matter which version you use, the basic process is the same.

1. Cut Two Backing Pieces

Cut your main backing fabric into two equal pieces. Each piece should be the full height of your backing (quilt top height + extra).

Because the fabric isn’t wide enough on its own, we’ll use the accent strip to help.

2. Choose Your Accent Strip Fabric

This is where you can have fun:

  • A leftover print from the quilt front
  • A stripe or floral that coordinates with your theme
  • A favorite fabric you’ve been saving for the perfect touch
  • Or gather scraps from front of quilt

You’ll cut this strip wider or narrower depending on which method you’re using (classic or fabric-saving). We’ll talk measurements in the examples below.

3. Sew the Strip Between the Backing Pieces

Place the accent strip right sides together with one backing piece and sew with a ½"–1" seam allowance. Press the seam open.

Then place the other backing piece right sides together with the other side of the accent strip. Sew again and press that seam open too.

Pressing seams open helps the backing lie flat, which is especially nice for longarm quilting.

4. Trim & Square

Once everything is sewn together, you’ll have one large backing piece. From there:

  • Press well
  • Trim the edges straight
  • Square the corners as needed

Now let’s plug in real numbers so it feels less theoretical and more “I can do this tonight.”

✨ Option 1: Classic Accent Strip with Wider Backing Pieces

This version is perfect if you:

  • Have a bit more backing fabric on hand
  • Don’t mind having extra width to trim away
  • Want a decorative stripe but aren’t counting every inch of fabric

You might, for example, use:

  • Two backing pieces each about 42–44" wide (full width of fabric)
  • One accent strip about 8–12" wide

When you sew:

  • Backing Piece 1 + Accent Strip + Backing Piece 2

You’ll end up with a backing that is much wider than your quilt top. You’ll simply trim it down to the width you need (for a 48" quilt, that might be about 56–60").

This version is very forgiving and great for beginners, but does require more fabric.

🌟 Option 2: Fabric-Saving Example for a 48" × 60" Quilt (includes bonus scrappy version)

Now for the fun one — the “That’s actually enough!” version.
Let’s say your quilt top is about 48" × 60", and you only have:

One 2-yard piece of backing fabric (72" long, about 42–44" wide)

It might not look like enough, but with an accent strip, it is.

✅ Step 1: Cut Along the Fold

Take your 2-yard piece (about 72" long × 42–44" wide).
Folded selvage to selvage, there’s a fold running down the middle.

Cut along that fold so you get:

  • Two pieces, each about 21–22" wide × 72" long

These become the left and right backing pieces.

✅ Step 2: Cut Your Accent Strip

Now you’ll cut one accent strip to give you the extra width.

For this size quilt, a great target is a finished backing width of about 56–60".

If each backing piece is ~21–22" wide, then:

  • Left piece: ~21–22"
  • Accent strip: ?
  • Right piece: ~21–22"

To land in that comfortable 56–60" range, cut your accent strip about:

14–18" wide (a sweet spot is around 16")

So for example:

  • 21" (left) + 16" (accent) + 21" (right) = 58" total width before trimming

Perfect!

Cut your accent strip to be:

  • 16" wide × 72" long (or long enough to match your backing length)

🌟 Scrappy Accent Strip Option (Beginner-Friendly--Steps A-F)

(optional skip to STEP 3 -- if you aren't doing "scrappy"

What if you don’t have one long piece of fabric for the accent strip—or you want to use leftovers from your quilt top—you can make a scrappy accent strip instead.

Step A – Gather scraps
Choose leftover fabrics that are at least 4–6 inches tall. They don’t have to match.

Step B – Cut into strips
Pick one height (4", 5", or 6") and cut all your scraps to that same height. Using one consistent height makes things much easier.

Step C – Sew strips end-to-end
Place two strips right sides together and sew along the short ends.
Keep adding pieces until you have one long strip that is at least 72" long (or as long as your backing needs to be).
Press the seams open.

Step D – Make more long strips
Repeat Step C to make enough long strips so that when you sew them side-by-side, they will total around 16" wide.

Examples that work:

  • Four strips that are 4" tall = 16"
  • Three strips that are 5" tall plus one small 1" filler strip = 16"
  • Two 6" strips plus one 4" strip = 16"

Anything between 14–18" wide is fine—you’ll trim later.

Step E – Sew strips side-by-side
Lay your long strips next to each other and sew them together along their long edges, just like making a long, skinny quilt top.

Press seams open.

Step F – Trim to size
Square up the edges and trim your scrappy unit so it measures about:

  • 16" wide × 72" long

Now you have a scrappy accent strip that works exactly like a solid one.

✅ Step 3: Sew It Together

  1. Sew the left backing piece to one long side of the accent strip (right sides together).
  2. Sew the right backing piece to the other long side of the accent strip.
  3. Press both seams open.

Now you have a backing that is:

  • About 58" wide (plenty for a 48" wide quilt)
  • About 72" long, which gives a nice buffer above and below a 60" quilt top

✅ Step 4: Trim & Square

From here, you’ll trim the backing to your desired size — for example:

  • Around 56–60" wide
  • Around 66–70" long, depending on your quilting needs

And just like that, one 2-yard cut plus an accent strip has become a fully usable backing for a 48" × 60" quilt — no extra yardage required.

💕 Why We Love Accent Strip Backings at Angels Neverland

This method has a special place in my Neverland heart because it:

  • Feels intentional and boutique, not like a “make-do” fix
  • Lets you use up leftover fabrics, tying the front and back together
  • Works beautifully when you are so close to having enough backing
  • Helps you stretch what you already have in your stash
  • Often turns the back into a little surprise story all its own
  • Quilting is full of these small, clever solutions — the ones that quietly say, “It’s okay, we can still make something beautiful.”

🧵 Love Cozy, Beginner-Friendly Quilting Help?

If you enjoyed this tutorial, you might also love exploring:

Every collection at Angels Neverland is chosen with nostalgia, warmth, and handmade joy in mind — like a hug you can sew.

✨ Final Thoughts

When your backing fabric is just a little too narrow, you don’t have to put your project on pause. With a simple accent strip, you can:

  • Save fabric
  • Add personality
  • And turn a small challenge into your favorite part of the quilt

Sometimes the sweetest details are the ones we added because something “wasn’t quite enough” — and we decided to turn it into something lovely anyway. 💛

Back to blog