How to Measure Quilt Backing

Many quilters ask, how do I measure for a quilt back? And if you know how to add and multiply by two or three and divide, then by two or three, then you can figure out how much fabric to purchase for a quilt. Okay? A lot of times the pattern will show you how much fabric you need or it'll give you the size of the backing, but this'll tell you how many lengths, or how many yards you need to put on the back of your quilt. All you need is a tape measure, a calculator and a piece of paper. Okay? You have a quilt, you have the width and the length of a quilt. So your width is how wide it is, the length is how long it is. And with your tape measure, all you would do is you'd measure the width of the quilt. So this one, and I've got the wrong end of the tape measure. Okay, so this is a small quilt. So it happens to be 14, a little over 14 inches and it's 14 inches square. So when you're figuring backing, depending on whether you're gonna hand quilt it, you're gonna give it to a long-arm quilter, you're gonna quilt it on your domestic machine, determines how much extra you're gonna need. Now, if you're giving it to a long-arm quilter, they usually like four to five inches on each side of the quilt. So you would have to add eight to 10 inches of your measurement. For a little small quilt like this, I would just add two inches. So we're talking about 16 by 16 and that's all you would need for this small quilt would be a 16 inch backing. Do the same thing for the batting, cut the batting the same length. When it's a bigger quilt, say your quilt is 56 by 67. Now, all fabrics, most fabrics, 56 inches by 67 inches. Most fabric is 42 inches wide. So you have to figure out, you've got a couple distances. If it's bigger than 42 then you're gonna have to use twice that amount. So 42 and 42 would be 84. That's the biggest amount you could use with two pieces of fabric if you're doing 84 inches. So with 56 by 67, you'd only need, you would need two because your 42 inches isn't gonna fill up this. So which one do I use? Do I use the bigger number or do I use the smaller number? And that's basically determined by where you want your seam, whether you want it going horizontal or whether you want it going vertical. If you want it going horizontal, what you would do is you would, you have this 56 inch measurement, you would add six to eight inches, so that would give it 62 to 64 inches. So you'd need 64 inches. And because 84, if you have two of those that remember, I said it was 42 by 42, would be 42 inches wide. So you'd have 42 and 42. So that would cover, if you had two pieces, that would cover your 67 inches. So if it's 64 by 64, that gives you a 128, I think. Times 64, times two, is a 128. So you'd need 128 inches. Well, how many inches are in a yard? There's 36 inches in a yard. So you would divide it by 36. And that would give you a little over three and a 1/2 yards. So to be safe, I would probably get three and 5/8ths or three and 3/4 yards for a quilt this size. Now, when you get a quilt that's 84, let's say it's 84 inches by 96, which would be closer to a queen size quilt. You can see 84 inches isn't enough for two pieces to go this way. So, you'd have to have at least two, more than two to go this way. And at 96, of course it wouldn't cover that. So you would take your 84 inches, and you'd have to have three pieces of fabric to cover that because you'd have your 42, your 42, and then you have, you have to get that 96 inches, because 84 inches wouldn't be enough for the length of it. So, excuse me. So you would take 84, plus your eight to 10 inches. So let's say it's 94. You'd take that times three. So 84 times three would give us 252 inches, would be the whole length you would need for this quilt. And you divide that by 36 inches, which is a yard. It gives you seven yards even. So again, I would add a little extra, 7 and an 1/8th or seven and a 1/4 just to be sure. Now, if you're gonna go length this way, of course you have to have three, three widths too again. 84 isn't enough because we're talking about overage. we need overage. But you're wasting a lot more fabric if you go this way, because you'd have to have three lengths of 96, plus eight or 10. So it would be a 106. If you did a 106 times three, that would give you 318 inches, divided by 36, would give you almost nine yards. So if you're doing it this way, it would definitely be a lot more fabric than you need. So try and figure the easiest way or the less fabric you have to purchase to create that backing, so you can save a little money. Of course, if you're giving it to a long-arm, some of 'em prefer the seam going this way, some of 'em prefer the seam going that way. So you have to ask your long-armer which way she wants the seam to go, and then you can determine the amount of fabric you need for a backing.