Quilt backing and binding calculator

Plan quilt backing and binding with Yardage Lab. See the inputs, fabric width rules, and examples from the quilt presets.

Yardage Lab calculates backing and binding fabric for a quilt. Enter the quilt width, length, and margin for each side.

Select 42-inch or 108-inch backing. Select straight or bias binding and a 2.25-inch or 2.5-inch strip width.

The result shows backing yards, panel seams, batting size, and binding yards. You can copy the cut list from the live tool.

Where the numbers come from

The calculator uses the widths and margins shown in Yardage Lab. It adds the selected margin to each side of the quilt.

Pieced backing uses 41.5 inches of fabric width. Wide backing uses 105 inches of fabric width. Check your fabric width before you buy.

Straight binding adds 12 inches to the quilt perimeter. It divides that length into 40-inch strips and multiplies by the strip width.

Bias binding uses a square with area equal to binding length times strip width times 1.16. The tool rounds the square size up to whole inches.

The tool rounds yardage up to the next eighth of a yard. These rules come from the existing backing and binding calculator.

Each example uses a four-inch margin, 108-inch backing, and 2.5-inch straight binding strips.

Quilt top: 50 by 65 inches.

Quilt top: 90 by 96 inches.

Quilt top: 108 by 98 inches.