How much fabric for quilt backing (with a chart)
Backing yardage for baby, throw, twin, full, queen and king quilts, on standard 42" cotton or 108" wide backing, with 3", 4" or 6" extra, and why the direction of the seams changes the amount.
Quick answer Add 4" on every side of your quilt top, then piece that from 42" wide cotton, choosing the seam direction that uses less. A throw (50 × 65") needs 3¼ yd of 42" cotton or 1⅝ yd of 108" wide backing. A queen (90 × 105") needs 8¼ yd or 3¼ yd of wide backing.
Backing is the biggest single piece of fabric in a quilt, and it's the easiest one to buy too little of. Three things decide how much you need: the size of your quilt, how much extra your quilter wants around the edges, and how wide the fabric is. A fourth thing, the direction you run the seams, can change the answer by more than half a yard, and most charts ignore it.
Step 1: add the extra
Your backing must be bigger than your quilt top, because the quilting pulls the layers in and the quilt has to be held at the edges while it's quilted.
- Longarm quilting: most longarm quilters ask for 4" extra on every side, some for 6". Ask yours before you buy; it's the only number in this guide that's theirs to decide.
- Quilting at home on your own machine: 2–3" on every side is usually enough.
So a 60 × 72" quilt with 4" extra needs a backing of 68 × 80".
Step 2: piece it from fabric widths
Standard quilting cotton is about 42" wide once you trim the selvages. Anything wider than that has to be pieced from two or three panels. Cut the selvages off first: they're woven tighter than the rest of the fabric and pucker in a seam. Join the panels with ½" seams pressed open, which lie flatter under the quilting than ¼" seams pressed to one side.
Step 3: choose the seam direction
You can run the seams top to bottom or side to side, and the two can need very different amounts of fabric. For the 68 × 80" backing above:
- Seams top to bottom: 2 panels, each 80" long = 160", which is 4½ yd
- Seams side to side: 2 panels, each 68" long = 136", which is 3⅞ yd
Side to side saves 24", more than half a yard. To compare the two yourself: for each direction, divide the side the panels sit next to each other along by 42" and round up (that's the number of panels), then multiply by the length of each panel. Buy whichever total is smaller.
One exception: directional prints. Side-to-side seams turn the fabric a quarter turn, so a print with a one-way design (houses, words, animals) runs sideways. If that matters to you, run the seams top to bottom and buy the extra.
Backing yardage chart
All with 4" extra on each side, rounded up to the next ⅛ yard. "Wide" is 108" wide backing fabric.
| Quilt | Size | 42" cotton | Panels | 108" wide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baby | 36 × 48" | 2½ yd | 2 | 1¼ yd |
| Throw | 50 × 65" | 3¼ yd | 2 | 1⅝ yd |
| Twin | 68 × 90" | 5½ yd | 2 | 2⅛ yd |
| Full | 84 × 90" | 7¾ yd | 3 | 2⅝ yd |
| Queen | 90 × 105" | 8¼ yd | 3 | 3¼ yd |
| King | 106 × 105" | 9½ yd | 3 | 6⅜ yd |
Look at the king on wide backing: at 114" across with the extra, it's just too wide for one piece of 108" fabric, so it needs two. Quilting it with 3" extra instead makes it 112 × 111", which still doesn't fit.
If your quilter wants a different amount
The extra changes the yardage more than you'd think, because it can tip a backing from one panel to two.
| Quilt | 3" extra | 6" extra | 108" wide, 3" | 108" wide, 6" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baby 36 × 48" | 1½ yd | 2¾ yd | 1¼ yd | 1⅜ yd |
| Throw 50 × 65" | 3⅛ yd | 3½ yd | 1⅝ yd | 1¾ yd |
| Twin 68 × 90" | 5⅜ yd | 5¾ yd | 2⅛ yd | 2¼ yd |
| Full 84 × 90" | 7½ yd | 8 yd | 2½ yd | 2¾ yd |
| Queen 90 × 105" | 8 yd | 8½ yd | 3⅛ yd | 3¼ yd |
| King 106 × 105" | 9¼ yd | 9¾ yd | 6¼ yd | 6½ yd |
The baby quilt is the surprise. With 3" extra, its backing is 42 × 54": exactly one width of fabric, so 1½ yd with no seam at all. With 4" extra it's 44" wide, too wide for one width, and it jumps to two panels and 2½ yd. If you're quilting a baby quilt yourself, 3" is plenty and saves you a yard.
Is wide backing worth it?
For anything twin-sized or bigger, usually yes. There are no seams to sew, and you buy far less fabric: a queen needs 3¼ yd of wide backing against 8¼ yd of standard cotton. Wide backing costs more per yard, so compare the total price, not the price per yard. The choice of prints is smaller, too.
Pieced backs from your stash
A backing doesn't have to be one fabric. Leftover blocks, a strip of orphan blocks or two or three large prints sewn together all work, and they use up fabric you already own. Keep pieced sections large, press seams open, and make the whole backing the same size as above. Avoid putting a seam exactly down the middle if your quilter will load it on a frame; ask what they prefer.
Work it out for your quilt
In the Quiltkind studio, the backing is planned with the rest of the quilt, in whichever direction uses less fabric, and it's on the shopping list with everything else.
Common mistakes
- Measuring the pattern, not the quilt. Tops often finish an inch or two bigger or smaller than planned. Measure the top you made.
- Forgetting to trim the selvages. They shrink differently and pucker in the seam.
- Buying for one seam direction only. Check both: the cheaper one is often the one you didn't think of.
- Not asking the longarm quilter. Some need 6" on every side, and a backing that's too small is a problem nobody can fix on the day.
- Pressing the backing seam to one side. A seam pressed open lies flatter, so it's less likely to show as a ridge.
Frequently asked questions
How much bigger should the backing be than the quilt top?
For longarm quilting, 4" bigger on every side (8" added to each measurement) is the usual ask, sometimes 6". For quilting on a home machine, 2–3" on every side is enough.
How many yards of backing for a queen quilt?
For a 90 × 105" queen with 4" extra, 8¼ yd of 42" wide cotton in three panels, or 3¼ yd of 108" wide backing with no seams.
How many yards of backing for a throw quilt?
For a 50 × 65" throw with 4" extra, 3¼ yd of 42" cotton (two panels, seams side to side) or 1⅝ yd of 108" wide backing.
Should backing seams be vertical or horizontal?
Whichever uses less fabric, unless the print has a direction. It depends on the size: in the chart above, horizontal (side to side) seams win for the baby, throw, full and queen, and vertical seams for the twin and king. Longarm quilters can work with either.
Can I use a bed sheet for quilt backing?
Some quilters do, but sheets are often a tighter weave or a polyester blend, which is harder to needle and can pucker. Wide quilt backing is made for the job and costs about the same.
Keep reading
Your first quilt: a nine-patch throw, planned to the inch
A complete beginner's plan for a 52 × 64" nine-patch throw: what to buy, how to cut every strip, the faster strip-set method, the order to sew it in, and the same quilt in baby to king sizes.
Value and contrast: why your star points disappear
Colour gets the attention, but value (how light or dark a fabric is) decides whether your quilt pattern shows. What value is, how to check it before you cut, and where contrast matters most.
What quilt can I make with 10 fat quarters?
Quilts you can make from 10 fat quarters, sized to really fit the bundle, how many squares a fat quarter gives at every size, and how many fat quarters a baby, throw, twin or queen quilt takes.