How to Determine Quilt Backing Yardage
Once you've finished piecing a quilt top, you need to determine how many yards of fabric you need for your quilt backing. This takes little time and it's easy to do. Determining the appropriate number of yards you need to back your quilt before you make a trip to the fabric store will save you time, and potentially, money.
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Instructions
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1
Measure the length and width of your finished quilt top to determine its exact size.
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2
Add between 4 and 6 inches to your length and width measurement to account for shifting quilt layers that might occur while you're quilting them together.
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3
Determine the width of the fabric you want to use for your quilt backing. Most fabrics will come in 45 inch widths.
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4
Choose a single width of 45 inch fabric for quilts that measure 40 inches wide or less. Purchase enough yards to equal the quilt's length plus 4 to 6 inches.
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5
Determine how many widths of backing fabric you need for quilts that measure wider than 40 inches. You will be able to use about 40 inches of each 45-inch width of fabric. This means that if your finished quilt measures 90 inches wide, you'll need 3 widths of fabric.
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6
Multiply the quilt's total length (including the 4 to 6 inches you added to each side of the length in step 2) by the number of fabric widths you need to cover the width of the quilt. The resulting figure is how many yards of fabric you need for your quilt backing.
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Tips & Warnings
If you find a backing fabric that comes in a 60, 90 or 108-inch length, adjust your calculations accordingly. For example, a 90-inch quilt top would only require 2 widths of 60-inch fabric and just one width of 108-inch fabric.
