THE CUTTING TABLE
Quilt binding calculator: yardage and strip count
A 60 × 80 inch quilt needs 8 binding strips cut 2½ inches wide, 0.625 yards of 42-inch fabric. Enter your own quilt size below; the calculator counts straight-grain strips with the fabric lost to diagonal joins included.
YOUR FABRIC ESTIMATE
0.625 yards
Rounded UP to your selected purchase increment.
9 strips
- Cut each strip
- 2.5 × 42 inches
- Required binding length
- 358 inches
- Internal diagonal joins
- 8
- Length lost to joins
- 20 inches
- Usable sewn chain
- 358 inches
What this estimate includes
Each internal 45-degree join consumes one cut-strip width along the binding chain. A quarter-inch trimming allowance does not create an additional longitudinal deduction. Your end allowance covers closure; this model does not calculate a final diagonal closure seam.
This is a straight-grain strip calculation. Bias binding, curved-edge requirements, shrinkage, and print matching need their own allowances. Strip width is the width you cut, not the finished width on the quilt.
Standard sizes from crib to California king, with backing and binding yardage for each, are in the quilt size chart. Need the back too? The backing calculator works out panels and yardage.