Stop Struggling to Mark Your Quilt Top with This Tip

Try Upside Down Backwards Quilting!

Are you having to switch markers often to mark your quilt top for quilting? That can happen when one marker does not show up well on a colorful quilt top.

Or are you a bit concerned that your marks may not fully disappear? In either case, the solution can be to mark your quilts on the back instead of the front – and to quilt from the back of the quilt. Laura from Sew Very Easy calls this clever technique Upside Down Backwards Quilting.

This works well when you want to do an all-over quilting design that does not depend on the quilt top’s design. And, it’s not just for tops that are hard to mark. You may find yourself using this method often, as you won’t be distracted by the pieced top when quilting it.

Laura demonstrates how the process works in the video below. She provides many excellent tips along the way.

Click here to watch the video at YouTube if it doesn’t play on your device.

While Laura used a quilt stencil for marking her quilting design, this process can also work with straight-line quilting designs. If you are using a stencil, make sure it’s going to read correctly when the design is viewed in reverse from the top of the quilt. You may need to turn the stencil over when marking.

Laura used an air-erasable marker in her demonstration. However, go ahead and use whatever marker you prefer.