I always have to get myself into a discussion of this kind. lol. Keep in mind the size of quilts you make. I make up to really biggggg King size as most of my kids and others that want to acquire one on my " masterpirces" use this size bed. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO The backing has to be more that 5 yards as most suggest on this thread. To make a long story short. I buy as much as I can afford at one time.