The Back of the Mountain Lake Quilt

The fabric I chose for the backing is full of bears. One of the reasons is to represent my close encounters with black bears in our cabin. Go here and here to read about those.
The other is that the name of this depicted lake in the Rocky Mountain National Park is Bear Lake. So, of course, whatever else in the world would I choose.

The front of the piece is machine sewn and quilted. That was finished before I left the cottage in Michigan. All the handwork is done in the construction details on the back side. I've been working for days in one of my favorite spots ... along the Big Thompson river, the stream that runs past our cabin here in Colorado.
A facing (double width and folded) was machine sewn to the edge of the quilt before the yarns were to couched to finish that outside edge. The fold is hand-stitched in place. This facing helps to stabilize that edge since there is no binding which functions to do that to most quilts.
A tube of fabric covers the machine zig-zag stitches that connect the border to the quilt and the decorative yarns that hide the seam on the front. It is hand sewn into place leaving space for a narrow piece of wood doweling to be inserted. This will help the sides to hang straight with no flipping up of the corners.
A little trick that would not be allowed in a quilt show ... at least, not in the SMQ show.

A double thickness fabric sleeve is made in two parts ... the method I use for all larger quilts so it can hang from the center as well as from the ends. Here you see the flat piece of wood with a drilled hole that the nail it will hang from will fit through. There are also holes drilled in each end so it will hang from three points.
Soon it will be finished and hanging in its new home.