StitchCalcsQuilt size calculator
Find the finished size of a quilt for any bed from the mattress size, how far you want it to hang down the sides and how much to tuck under the pillows.
How to use it
- Pick your bed size, or measure across the top of the mattress and enter its width and length.
- Enter the drop: how far the quilt should hang down each side, measured from the top edge of the mattress. Choose no drop at the foot if a footboard is in the way.
- Add a pillow tuck if the quilt will go under the front of the pillows and over them. If you expect the finished quilt to shrink, enter a shrinkage allowance to get the size to make the top.
How it works
The quilt covers the top of the mattress and hangs down both sides and the foot. Nothing hangs at the head, where the headboard is, but the pillow tuck adds length there.
width = mattress width + 2 × drop
length = mattress length + drop at the foot + pillow tuck
top to make = quilt size ÷ (1 − shrinkage ÷ 100)
Example: a queen mattress is 60 × 80 in. With a 12 in drop and a 10 in pillow tuck, the quilt is 60 + 2 × 12 = 84 in wide and 80 + 12 + 10 = 102 in long. To allow for 3% shrinkage, make the top 84 ÷ 0.97 = 86.6 in wide and 102 ÷ 0.97 = 105.2 in long.
Choosing the drop
Measure your own bed from the top edge of the mattress straight down, with any mattress topper on:
- To cover the mattress: its depth plus a few inches, so the edge hangs below it.
- To hide the box spring or bed base too: down to the bottom of the box spring or base.
- To reach the floor: the whole height, less about 1 in (2.5 cm) so the edge doesn't drag.
Mattress sizes
The usual mattress sizes. US and Canadian sizes are the round sizes they are sold as; Wikipedia's bed size article notes that real mattresses can be half an inch either way. UK and European sizes are from the Which? UK bed size guide. Measure your mattress when you can.
| Bed | Inches | Centimeters |
|---|
Tips
- Measuring a pillow tuck: run a soft tape measure from the mattress just in front of the pillows, under their front edge, up and over them and down to the mattress behind. Take away the flat distance between those two points; the difference is your tuck.
- The drop is the easiest part to change, so round the quilt to a size that suits your blocks. A couple of inches over or under hardly shows.
- Cotton batting can shrink when the quilt is first washed, and dense quilting pulls a quilt in a little. Polyester batting barely shrinks.
- Once you know the size, work out the backing and the binding for it.