How to Estimate Material for a Quilt
If you don't buy enough material for your quilt project at the start, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to purchase more of that exact same fabric. Because of this, you need to estimate the amount of material you will need for your quilt before you go to the fabric shop. The amount that you'll need to purchase depends on the size of the quilt and the size of the quilt pieces--the smaller the pieces, the more fabric you'll have to buy to adjust for seam allowances.
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Instructions
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Calculate the width and length of one quilt block. If you're following a pattern, it will probably tell you the size of each block. Otherwise, create the pattern you want out of paper and measure the paper block.
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Include a 1/2 inch wherever there will be a seam. This accounts for a 1/4 inch seam for each side. This will give you the total amount of fabric that you need for each square.
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3
Determine how many blocks you'll need for the whole quilt. This varies based on the size of the bed and how much you want the quilt to drape over the sides of the mattress. Donna Poster, in Stars Galore, suggests that a crib quilt should be 50 by 53 inches, a twin quilt should be 75 by 98 inches, a double quilt should be 83 by 106 inches, a queen quilt should be 90 by 106 inches and a king quilt should be 107 by 108 inches. Knowing this, you can determine how many squares you'll need to cover the width and the length, then multiply them to get the total number of squares.
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Add up the total yardage. For example, if you're making a crib quilt and each finished square is 10 inches, you'll need five squares across and six squares down, or 30 squares total. You need to add a half inch to both the height and width of the square, making each cut square 10 1/2 inches long and 10 1/2 inches wide. Therefore, you'll need 315 square inches of fabric. A yard of fabric is 36 inches long, but the fabric widths vary. Look at the fabric and to determine how many cut squares you can fit.
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Factor in the colors. Once you know the total amount of fabric you need, you'll have to divide it by the number of colors that you'll use so that you know how much to purchase of each color.
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Purchase fabric for the back. This is usually one solid color, the size of which is based on the size of the quilt.
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Tips & Warnings
Purchase extra fabric to account for potential cutting mistakes.
To make this easier, you can use an online quilt fabric calculator.
