help me with yardage calculating
 

My quilt will be 80x80 and i said I would use 2 yds to get 86 inches which is good. Then I thought it would be 4 yds since it is sq. How ever then I caculate sq inches , 86x86 would be 7396 sq inches and divided that by 1296 which is 1 yd sq inches and got 5.70 yds. What am I doing wrong? It seems the older I get , I don'y know or doubt myself. By the way this is yardage for the back of the quilt.

You can usually get at least 40-42" usable width of fabric, so one yard of fabric is more than one square yard. That's the problem with dividing by 1296. Two yards is only 72", which is 14" shy of 86", so that's why 4 yards won't be enough.

It sounds like you will need two lengths of 86" x WOF, but that will probably not be quite wide enough, depending on the WOF. How much are you willing to piece the back to get a full 86" in both directions? Could you use scraps from the front to create a stripe down the back?

Thanks to both of you for your help. I printed the Blog from Missouri Star and will keep it handy. Now I can think of something else about my quilting when i try to go to sleep tonight.

check out mywebquilter.com it's free and easy and does all kinds of calculations . Best quilt calculator I have ever found .

Remember you will need extra fabric to match the fabric repeat. Good luck!