please help me figure out yardage needed
 

Hello to all who have more math ability than me!! I need to know how much yardage of 108" wide fabric to buy instead of the narrower 44" fabric. As per my pattern I need 7 yds. of the 44" for background & binding. I would prefer to buy the 108" wide. As a fairly recent returnee to some minimal quilting, am I getting myself in trouble??? I've looked at the calculators & they all stop at 60" & make zero sense to this tired mind. Any suggestions, ideas, hope & help??? Thank you for reading.:)
sewverybusy1

I'm no whiz kid at math but felt up to the challenge this morning. I came up with 3 yards of the 108 width giving you a little more than the 7 yards of 44 inch called for. I will check back in to see what the experts come up with.

If my length is less than 108", I just take the width and add 6 to 8 inches and then divide by 36 to get the yardage. Actually my length is always less than 108". I love wide backings because they usually are cost efficient and there is no seam.

Need to know what the finished size of your quilt is. If it is queen sized I generally purchase 3yards of wide. This also ( generally) gives enough for a king as long as it's not over 100" long/ wide. But you decide by the finished size of the top-- if top measures 90" X 72" (2 1/4- 2 1/2 ) would be plenty, leaving e generous amount to trim off/ use for another project.

when you calculate wide backing, you START with the finished size of the quilt, not how much you buy when you start. (ie. if you are making a queen size quilt, 3 yards should be too much because you will be buying 108" x 108" and a queen is usually less that that finished size). So what size quilt ar you making?

I took 7 yds. x 44" divided by 36" and came up with 81/2 yds.

Am I understanding this correctly? You want to use the backing fabric for your binding and sashing, right? Will you be using it for backing as well?

106" wide fabric is roughly 2.5 times as wide as 44" fabric, so if you're using it for binding and background in the quilt top you only need 7/2.5=2.8 yards. However if you're using it for backing (rather than background) then you need to base your yardage on the measurements of your top.

I would just divide the 44" requirements in half to be safe. Never worked with that wide of fabric for piecing.

I just measure my quilt size and go from there so if my quilt is 100 x 100.....3 yds of the 108" will do. If its larger than that I add enough to give me at least 4 inches extra on each side. So what size quilt will you be making?