I am pretty new to quilting, I've made one or two baby sized quilts using very basic patterns. Recently I took on a project to make a few no sew blankets for soldiers overseas, and enjoyed making those, too. I have done great at sewing blocks together on regular quilts, but when it comes time to sew backs to fronts and whatnot, I've not done as a great of a job. So this got me thinking.....

Can I pieces together and sew regular cotton blocks for a front, then add on a fleece or flannel border with a matching fabric type back and tie them? Can cotton tie with fleece or would a border be needed? I was hoping to practice my block sewing some more before trying to master longer sewing pieces. Any suggestions are appreciated, if any of this makes sense at all.

You can use fleece backing, I've seen it done. On the one's I have seen, they used fleece not only for the backing, but in place of the batting as well. It would still need binding, though, to seal off the raw edges of the cotton front. Also, the ones I've seen weren't tied or quilted, just bound. Not sure how well that works, but it's really up to you how you'd feel more comfy going about the whole thing. I'd only recommend you do this for utilitarian quilts. Usually, if you're going to make an "heriloom" quilt, you'd try to shoot for the same fiber throughout (ie. cotton fabric, cotton batting, cotton thread) so that the whole thing wears at basically the same rate.

Hope that makes sense to you. Here's a tutorial on quilting that may help you... http://www.quilting101.com/making/quilt-sandwich-assembly.html . And there are many more to be had if it doesn't!

Good Luck!!

I agree that it is best to stick with cotton fabrics which can be tied or machine /hand quilted. It also makes laundering the quilt easier. Don't be put off with attaching borders. If you are piecing blocks easily then you are ready for borders. The key is in the cutting. Iron your fabric length before cutting, then refold into a 4 layer thickness making sure selvages are even and there is no sag along the bottom fold. Measure sides and cut to fit. Make sure you pin the top, bottom, middle then pin in between to ease the border to fit.Hope this information helps.
Warmly Lenna