Calculating Binding Amounts

Calculating binding is one of those things that is both super easy and super irritating. Despite the fact that the math is straightforward and fairly obvious, every time I have to do it I have to think far more than I would like… so, I created this cheat sheet graph!

First, the basic equation to calculate how much binding you need is this:

(2 x Quilt Width) + (2 x Quilt Height) + 12

This allows you to make it all the way around the quilt with excess for corners and joining the ends. For example, if I have a 30” x 40” baby quilt, I would do the following math:

(2 x 30) + (2 x 40) + 12 = 152”

To then determine how many width of fabric (WOF) strips you need to cut, divide that number by 42” and round up to the nearest whole number. For example:

152/42 = 3.6 = 4

So, I need to cut 4 WOF strips of binding.

Now that you know the math, here’s a handy little cheat sheet for standard sized quilts!