How many blocks in a queen size quilt?

How many 6" quilt blocks will it take for me to make a queen size quilt?

Reply

A standard queen size mattress is 60" by 80" on the top. A quilt measuring 86" by 93" would give you a quilt large enough to cover the top with a 13 inch drop on the two sides and bottom (or foot of the bed).

You can find this information and for other standard mattress sizes on our page Standard Quilt Sizes and Mattresses Chart.

How many 6 inch blocks will it take?

That depends on the layout that you choose for your quilt.

For the examples that follow, a simple Churn Dash quilt block (as shown to the right) is used.

Let's see how the quilt layouts and whether or not they have sashing affect how many blocks you'll need to make.

All of the following illustrations were created in EQ7 (Electric Quilt 7, a quilt design software). I absolutely love using this software because it makes designing quilts and changing their layouts so-o-o-o-o-o easy!


For a straight set layout like this...




...you'll need a quilt 14 blocks wide by 15 blocks long. Add a 1/4 inch binding on all sides and the finished measurement is 84-1/2" by 90-1/2".

Total blocks: 210


Same straight set, but now we've added a 1" sashing strip (white with black cornerstones to make it easy to see) between all the blocks...




...the quilt is now 13 by 14 blocks bound with 1/4" binding. The finished size is 83-1/2" by 97-1/2".

Total blocks: 182


Let's move on to diagonal sets where solid setting and corner triangles are used.

A diagonal layout with no sashing...




...will require a 10 by 11 block layout. With binding, the finished quilt measures 85-3/8" by 93-7/8".

Total blocks: 200


Now add a 1" sashing (white with black cornerstones) between the blocks...




...and it'll take a quilt 9 by 10 blocks. Add a binding and the final size is 89" by 99".

Total blocks: 162

You may have noticed that the diagonal set without sashing comes the closest to the 'ideal' size with even drops on three sides.

To reduce the number of blocks you'll need to make, design your quilt with pieced blocks only on the top of the mattress with borders cut from solid strips of fabric.

Other layouts, like strippy quilts or those with a zigzag design will also change the number of blocks you'll need.

If your mattress differs (especially in its thickness) check out our page Quilt Sizes on Patterns are NOT Consistent. There is a link to a printable worksheet towards the bottom of that page to help you with your calculations.

I hope this has been of help to you.

Piecefully,

Julie Baird
Editor

This article was printed from Generations-Quilt-Patterns.com