I look at the calendar in disbelief – once again it is already time for Tips and Tutorials on the 22nd. I have been working hard on finishing a quilt, you will see it finished in a few days. I have another all ready to load (it may even be loaded by the time this is published. I am cranking things out, but where is the quiet of winter when I need to finish….not right now! Its all good; my husband travels, friends arrive for two nights, and then I will have a few quiet nights to myself but intend to work a little harder on the integration of a few more boxes into the space. I am nearly done with my office, so next is the sewing room stuff that is still in boxes. Meanwhile, a friend asked about quilt sizes which is the inspiration for today’s Tips and Tutorials.
Last Month’s Link Ups
Here are June’s links for you take a look at. First up is Vicki’s tip on cleaning up strings! Yvonne always has brilliant tutorials, and I love this one on working with curvey blocks and directional fabric.
How Big Should My Quilt Be???
No matter whether there is a pattern with a specific size, we often want our quilt to fit the bed it is intended for. I can tell you I have quilts that fit better before they were washed, then after the first washing. So, let’s try to avoid the question.
First, where is the quilt going and how much information do you have?
1. Do you use a pillow tuck? Add 10″
2. How high is the bed? Where do you want the quilt to fall?
3. Is it against a wall (a child’s bed)?
4. Are you pre-washing some fabrics (backing only as front has precuts)? all of the fabrics? none of the fabrics?
Let me work through what my thought process would be for my queen size bed if I was thinking about this in advance. Remember, the top of a queen size bed is 60″ x 80″.
1. I am not using a pillow tuck so 80″ long on top is plenty I might even say it could be 75″ since I tuck it under the pillow.
2. It is 12″ to from the mattress to the top of the frame and 16″ to the bottom. Let’s use 14″ as the drop on the sides and bottom: 60+14+14=88″ and 75+14=89″
3. Not against wall so I can use the 14 on both sides. I might use less if it is a bed against a wall because I find a long tuck annoying.
4. I am not pre-washing…so lets at 10%…that is generous but a quilt with cotton batting and dense quilting and no pre-washing can loose quite a bit in both processes. 88+8 = 96″ wide and 89+9=98″ So that is a fairly generous quilt, but it will work better than the one on my bed, at 96″ x 98″ and it could even be a square 96″ and I think I would be happy.
Formula for a Queen Size Bed
Mattress Size: Width x Length => 60″x80″
Pillow Tuck: Width x (Length +10) => 60 x (80+10) = 60″x90″
Desired Drop : (Width + 2(Drop)) x (Length + Drop) => (60+2(10)) x (90+10) = 80″x100″
Add for Shrinkage (Quilting and Washing +5-10%):
(80 + 4(5%) or 8(10%)) x (100 + 5(5%) or 10(10%). 84/88″ x 105/110″
Standard mattress measurements
Crib: 27″ x 52″
Twin: 39″ x 75″
Twin XL: 39″ x 80″
Double: 54″ x 75″
Queen: 60″ x80″
King: 78″ x 80″
California King: 72″ x 84″
I checked the California King in a few places and was shocked that it wasn’t wider! My mother always thought it was strange that a Queen wasn’t twice as wide as a twin….you don’t even get close to that until you go to a King!
Join the Linky Party!
Now it’s your turn to post, and the rules are simple – write up a tip or group of tips or a tutorial that is quilting or sewing-related and link that post below. The linky party is open from 12:01 am on the 22nd through midnight on the 31st. The post does not have to be new but should be one that hasn’t been linked to Tips and Tutorials in the past. If you don’t have a blog, please send it to me (kathleen@kathleenmcmusing.com) and I will post your tip or tutorial for you!
Past Tips and Tutorials
In case you didn’t know, if you have missed some past #TTot22, you can check them out in the tab at the top of my page or on my Pinterest board.
Coming Up on My Blog
I am pleased that Diatom is quilted and you will see a finished top post later this week! It needs binding and photos but we are making progress.
Diatom
3 Tops to Quilt (Maid Marian, Yoga 2, Pinked)
Finish 6 more ferry pillows & 2 Casco Bay pillow
Always good to have the math you have to consider written down somewhere – thanks for this post, Kathleen. I think many will find it helpful!
Thank you for this post – such helpful and useful information – I’m bookmarking it! I’ve had blocks cut for a simple patchwork quilt for our big bed for over a year. I’ll have to re-check to make sure I have enough!
Your timing is impeccable, Kathleen! I was just trying to decide how big to make a dorm quilt. College move-in will be here soon!
Shrinkage is the one calculation that I think a lot of people leave out. And even if fabric is prewashed, the batting won’t be, so I’ve ranged everywhere from about 3% to 10% shrinkage in the quilts that I measured before and after washing. Great post!!
Your purple quilt is beautiful on your bed! I’m always surprised how much quilting alone makes a quilt shrink. Then there’s washing! Great quilt math reference, Kathleen!
Thank you for the charts and measurements. The info is very helpful.
Thank you for the good information Kathleen….we have a queen with a generous light weight neutral colored bedspread. I don’t like the heaviness of a quilt that goes to the floor so I usually purposefully make my quilts a little smaller than the size of the quilt in your photo. They hang over the bed, but on top of a neutral light weight bedspread. They can easily go on extra long double beds we have too.
Good information Kathleen, thank you!
Hi Kathleen, every time I make a large quilt I always re-do the math and look at my previous posts. Even the size of non-bed quilts should be thought out, especially if you want to be able to snuggle under them. I’ve made a few throws that are too short, so not very useful – so I’m trying to learn from my experience!