How Big Should I Make My Quilt?
There is no such thing as standard sizing when it comes to bed quilts. A quick trip around the internet wil tell you that. There can be as much as 3-5 inch differences on width and length depending on who you talk to. The safest thing to do whenever possible is to measure the bed itself and do some easy and quick calculations. If that is not possible then the chart below will give you general sizes of both mattresses and quilts.
Before you begin you must decide a couple of things.
- are you making a bed ‘topper’ (one that just fits the top of the mattress) or a bedspread (one that takes into account the overhang to the floor or whatever finished drop you want)?
- will the quilt cover the pillows and tuck underneath? If you can, measure the pillows or add 18” to the finished length to allow a bit of a tuck. Keep in mind that if the quilt has a centre medallion then you must take that into account when you design the quilt.
Once you’ve made your decisions you can start to measure the bed. Roughly sketch out the shape of the bed to put the numbers on or simply make notes of the sizes.
- Measure the width of the mattress - left to right = WIDTH
- Measure the length of the mattress - from head area to foot area = LENGTH
- Measure from the top edge of the mattress towards the floor however long you want the drop to be = DROP LEFT and DROP RIGHT and DROP BOTTOM
- Measure pillow tuck size (or add 18”) = TUCK
Okay - here’s the easy part!
Take the WIDTH measurement plus DROP LEFT and DROP RIGHT = finished width
Take the LENGTH measurement plus DROP BOTTOM plus TUCK = finished length
If you are not able to measure the bed then use these accepted finished bedspread sizes below.
- Crib 36” x 54”
- Twin 81” x 107”
- Double 96” x 107”
- Queen 102” x 112”
- King 120” x 112”