Quilt math · Calculator
Quilt binding calculator
How many strips to cut for the binding, and how much fabric that takes. Pick a size, a strip width and your fabric’s width.
The short answer
Go once around the quilt and add 12″. For a 60″ × 72″ throw that’s 276″: 7 strips of 2½″ cut across 42″ fabric, which is ½ yd.
Work out yours
Free · no accountBinding to make: 276″
Around 60″ × 72″ is 264″, + 12″ to join the ends
2½″ × 42″, joined on the diagonal: 6 joins, 279″ in all.
7 strips × 2½″ is 17½″, up to the next ⅛ yd.
One 26⅜″ square, cut into continuous 2½″ bias strips: ¾ yd.
In Quarter Inch, the binding comes from your border’s fabric, and its strips are in the cutting chart with everything else.
Start a 60″ × 72″ quiltSame sums as the app: @quarterinch/cutting, bindingOf and biasSquare · perimeter + 12″ · each join takes a strip’s width
How it’s worked out
The throw from the short answer, step by step. Binding goes once around the quilt, with a little more to join the two ends neatly.
| The quilt | 60″ × 72″ |
|---|---|
| Around it: 2 × (60″ + 72″) | 264″ |
| Add 12″ to fold and join the ends | 276″ |
| Each strip is 42″ long, and each diagonal join takes about a strip’s width (2½″). 6 strips make 239½″: not enough | 7 strips |
| 7 strips, 6 joins: 7 × 42″ − 6 × 2½″ | 279″ |
| Fabric: 7 × 2½″ = 17½″, up to the next ⅛ yd | ½ yd |
Binding on the bias
Bias binding stretches a little, so it eases around curves and scalloped edges, and it wears longer on a quilt that gets used hard. It’s cut from one square: sew the square into a tube and cut one long strip around and around it (continuous bias).
The square holds the same fabric as the strips: its side is the square root of the binding’s length times the strip width, rounded up to the ⅛″. For the throw: √(276″ × 2½″) gives a 26⅜″ square, ¾ yd of fabric. Straight strips need only ½ yd, so bias costs more fabric for the same binding.
Binding for every bed size
2½″ strips cut across 42″ fabric, joined on the diagonal.
| Quilt | Binding to make | Strips | Fabric | On the bias |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crib 36″ × 48″ | 180″ | 5 | ⅜ yd | 21¼″ square |
| Throw 60″ × 72″ | 276″ | 7 | ½ yd | 26⅜″ square |
| Twin 66″ × 90″ | 324″ | 9 | ⅝ yd | 28½″ square |
| Queen 90″ × 96″ | 384″ | 10 | ¾ yd | 31″ square |
| King 108″ × 108″ | 444″ | 12 | ⅞ yd | 33⅜″ square |
Which strip width?
2½″ is the usual width for a double-fold binding: folded in half, it covers the ¼″ seam and wraps a cotton batting with a little to spare. Choose narrower for a thin, flat batting, or wider for a thick one or a wool batting.
Narrower strips take a little less fabric, but bought to the ⅛ yard the saving often disappears: for the throw, 7 strips of 2¼″ take ½ yd, the same as 2½″ strips. The bigger the quilt, the more strips: at 2½″, a queen takes 10 and a king 12.
Sewing it on is in how to bind a quilt.
Questions
Short answers.
Something else? A real person replies.
hello@quarterinch.app
How many binding strips do I need for a queen quilt?
For a 90″ × 96″ queen, 10 strips of 2½″ cut across 42″ fabric: ¾ yd.
How wide should I cut binding strips?
2½″ for most quilts, folded in half for a double-fold binding. Narrower for a thin batting, wider for a thick one.
How much extra binding do I need?
Add 12″ to the distance around the quilt, to fold the ends and join them where they meet. The joins between strips take a little more, which the calculator counts.
Is bias binding better?
Only for curved or scalloped edges, or a quilt that will be used hard. Straight strips are easier and take less fabric, and most quilts are bound with them.