nancysp

I've just finished a quilt top for my queen bed and have my borders all figured out. But I know it'll shrink a bit after washing and the quilting will also take the dimensions down. I will be FMQing myself, fairly densely. Fabric has been prewashed. Are there any "rules"? I don't want it too big. Right now, I have 8 extra inches in the width and 6 extra in the length. Is this enough? Too much? This is finished size before FMQ and final wash.

117becca

Assuming that is 4 inches on each side and 6 inches on the top and bottom?

what kind of batting??? Cotton - cotton/poly??

i think that is good. I also have dense quilting. I usually use Dream Cotton batting and it does not shrink that much.

nancysp

8" extra on width and 6" extra on length, but l don't need the full drop at the headboard, so not as worried about the length. Will use a cotton batting, not sure but probably Warm and Natural.

Jan in VA

The label on the batting will usually tell you percentage of shrinkage (from the original size) expected from washing. Add a few inches more to that for the quilting and you can figure this out fairly easily.

E.g. a 100" wide quilt will wash-shrink about 5% or 5 inches for many cotton battings, leaving you with approx 95" quilts.
If the quilting takes up another 1-3", then your quilt would finish about 91-93" over-all.
You would plan to add extra border inches to get it back to the size you actually want it to finish.

Jan in VA