Printable quilt planner

Set up your planner

Print planner

Filling in the project sheet

Start at the top. Write down the finished size you're aiming for and where the quilt is going, since a lap quilt for a care home and a bed quilt for a teenager need different sizes. The box above fills in the finished size and block count from the layout you set, so the first sheet and the layout grid always agree.

The fabric list has a swatch column: snip a small piece of each fabric and tape or staple it in the box. Months later, when you need more of a fabric, the swatch is the quickest way to match it. In the yardage column write what the pattern calls for, and in the last column whether you have it or need to buy it, so the sheet doubles as a shopping list.

The cutting list goes one line per piece size per fabric. Write the cut size, not the finished size, and tick each line as you cut. Cutting everything before you sew is the easiest way to make sure nothing is missing, and the tick marks show where you left off.

The block tally is for blocks and units: 30 blocks, 120 half-square triangles, 98 sashing strips. Tick a box each time you finish one; there's room for twenty per row, so a big count can take two rows.

The layout grid

Change any of the layout boxes and the grid redraws to match. It also gives the finished quilt size and counts the sashing strips and cornerstones, using the cut size (finished plus ½ inch). Print it and color in the blocks, tape fabric snips to them, or number them to match the order on your design wall.

The finished size is: blocks × block size, plus the sashing between blocks, plus sashing around the outside if you choose it, plus two borders. For the default layout of 5 × 6 blocks of 12 inches with 2-inch sashing all around and a 4-inch border, that's 5 × 12 + 6 × 2 + 2 × 4 = 80 inches wide and 6 × 12 + 7 × 2 + 2 × 4 = 94 inches long. With sashing between blocks only, there's one less strip each way.

If you're still deciding how many blocks you need, the block count calculator works backward from the quilt size. For sashing yardage, the sashing calculator turns the strip count into strips and yards, and the border calculator does the same for borders. To sketch a layout freehand, print quilt graph paper.

The setting triangle chart

A quilt set on point has its blocks turned 45 degrees, with triangles filling the gaps along the edges and at the corners. The chart gives both cuts for 14 common block sizes. The side triangle square is the block's diagonal (block × 1.414) plus 1¼ inches; the corner triangle square is half the diagonal (block ÷ 1.414) plus ⅞ inch. Both round up to the next eighth. A 9-inch block, for example, is 12.73 inches corner to corner, so the side squares are 14 inches and the corner squares 7¼ inches.

The numbers are the same as the setting triangle calculator, which also counts the triangles and blocks for a given layout. For a layout 4 blocks across and 5 down on point, you need 4 × 5 + 3 × 4 = 32 blocks, 2 × 3 + 2 × 4 = 14 side triangles from 4 squares, and 4 corner triangles from 2 squares.

Tips

• Print the planner on card stock if it will live by the cutting table. Card stock takes tape and staples without tearing.
• Keep one sheet per quilt in a binder with the pattern. A finished planner is also a record of what went into the quilt, which is handy when you make the label.
• Check fabric value before you cut: the fabric value checker shows your fabrics in grayscale.
• Write down the size of every precut and the number in the bundle. The quilting cheat sheets give pieces per fat quarter, layer cake and yard.

For a charity quilt, add the organization's size rules to the top of the project sheet; charity quilt sizes lists them for Project Linus, Quilts of Valor and other programs.

You might also like

• Half-rectangle triangle calculatorCut rectangles and tip offset for half-rectangle triangles, with a printable chart.
• Setting triangle calculator for on-point quiltsSide and corner triangle cuts, counts and finished size for blocks set on point.
• Dresden plate template generatorPrintable blade and center circle templates for any blade count and plate size, with fabric and a preview.
• Free printable quilting cheat sheetsSix free charts to print and pin up: triangle unit cuts, pieces per precut, strips per yard, fractions and centimeters, and seam allowances.