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In its most basic form, a quilt is two layers of fabric stitched together, often with a layer fof fluffy insulation sandwiched in between. In practice, quilts are a thrillingly diverse category — there are infinite ways of crafting them, and they can pass down communal traditions, tell stories, and allow the makers to experiment aesthetically with limited resources.
Bedding is the original and most obvious use for quilts; they add a warm layer on top of your sheets, and some can be quite heavy, creating a gravity-blanket-like effect. A really beautiful quilt can even be décor in its own right. Draped over the back of my sofa is a black vintage quilt pieced together from what I believe are old coats, and I have seen intricate patchwork quilts hung on walls like paintings. To find the best quilt for your home, my colleague Lauren Ro consulted a dozen interior designers and tasteful folks, and I applied my knowledge as a textile nerd and amateur quilt collector to assemble this list. I also tested our best-in-class pick — the Simple Linen Quilt by Hawkins New York — in my own home.
What we’re looking for
Material
Most quilts are composed of a “quilt top” — the outer fabric layer — and batting, the insulating material inside the quilt that makes it warm and fluffy. A quilt top can be made of almost anything (I have seen patchwork quilts made of silk ties, feed sacks, and old T-shirts), but wovens with a nice handfeel, such as cotton or linen, are among the most popular fabrics. Polyester and cotton (and, less commonly, wool) are most often used for the insulating batting layer. Although I normally avoid synthetics like polyester, since the batting is enclosed in fabric I haven’t favored cotton over polyester on this list. I would recommend wool batting only for those who sleep cold — it’s going to be heavier and warmer.
Stitch style
Quilt stitching can be as simple as a grid of regularly spaced squares (a.k.a. a box stitch) or as complex as a jagged “crazy quilt” patchwork. In general, box-stitched and channel-stitched quilts are less expensive since they can be done by machine. A quilt with a more complex pattern that involves more design, labor, and hand-sewing will be more expensive.
When you think of a quilt, you might imagine a patchwork version, a style in which scrap fabric is stitched together to create a patterned quilt top. For an archive of patchwork-quilt styles, check out The Quilt Index, an “open access digital repository of thousands of images, stories, and information about quilts and their makers” founded in 2003 and maintained by the Center for Digital Humanities & Social Sciences at Michigan State University. Sorting by pattern provides a useful visual reference for patchwork-quilt typologies. (The names are also amazing: My favorites include “Rob Peter to Pay Paul” and “Delectable Mountain.”)
Size
Quilts vary from child-size “crib quilts” to bedspreads large enough to drape over a California king. There’s some variance, but in general, a throw quilt is around 50 inches by 70 inches, a twin-size quilt is around 70 inches by 90 inches, a queen-size quilt is around 90 inches by 90 inches, and a king-size quilt is around 95 inches by 110 inches. We list the general size of each quilt below and specify when multiple sizes are available.
Best quilt overall
Materials: European linen, polyester fill | Style: Box stitch | Sizes: Queen, king
The Simple Linen Quilt from Hawkins New York is an incredibly soft, high-quality quilt with an understated design that looks at home anywhere. It was the most mentioned among experts: Although writer Alexis Cheung first bristled at the price, she now says it brings her genuine joy with its comfy linen fabric that’s “still weighty enough to induce a gravity-blanket-like calming effect.” Jenny Kaplan, founder of the design studio An Aesthetic Pursuit, also owns this quilt in light gray and agrees that it’s the “perfect weight year-round.” Interior designer Lauren Ashley Allan is a third fan, calling it “warm, welcoming, and elevated without being too obvious.” It comes in over a dozen colors, including a trendy terra-cotta shade and neutrals like flax, black, and light gray.
I tested the Hawkins NY quilt, and it quickly became one of my favorites in a large collection of blankets and coverlets. It’s substantial with a smooth, soft handfeel, making it the perfect quilt to snuggle up under at the end of the day. (Or at any time of day — it’s on my lap as I write this.) I tested the sky color, a lovely vintage-y blue like a faded robin’s egg. It’s substantial enough to feel cozy, but it’s still breathable: Compared with a lighter-weight duvet, it never makes me sweaty, even on warm nights.
Best (less expensive) overall quilt
Materials: Linen front, cotton back, polyester fill | Style: Box stitch | Sizes: Twin, queen, and king
Parchute’s box quilt is another great option if you’re looking for a more affordable linen blanket. It’s less expensive in part because only one side is linen; the quilt’s back is cotton percale, unlike the Hawkins NY quilt, which is linen on both sides. It’s recommended by the Sill founder Eliza Blank and Strategist senior editor Simone Kitchens, who both agree that it’s the perfect weight: Kitchens says that “you can get properly bundled up but will never feel too weighed down by it.” She also reports that its handfeel is “incredibly soft, like you’ve had it for years.” It comes in several colors, including mustard, pink, and both cool and warm neutrals.
Best solid-color quilts
Best colorful quilt
Materials: Linen, cotton fill, optional wool fill | Style: Box stitch | Sizes: Four, from twin to “Olympic” (120 inches by 100 inches)
Linoto is an upstate New York brand that produces high-quality, substantial linen bedding. Its quilted coverlet comes in an array of saturated colors and contains either cotton or wool batting, which is good for those who prefer to avoid synthetics altogether. Strategist writer Dominique Pariso owns the quilt in the Malbec color, which she describes as “a really rich, luxurious-looking deep red … like something that would’ve been thrown on a bed in one of the rooms in Call Me by Your Name, very Italian villa.” Although this quilt’s 190-gram linen is on the heavier side, it translates to a substantial quilt that’s still breathable: As a hot sleeper, Pariso attests that the version with cotton batting keeps her cool at night.
Best reversible quilt
Materiasl: Linen, polyester batting | Style: Channel stitch, reversible
“A lot of amazing linen comes from Eastern Europe,” says Shannon Retseck, founder of textile and home-goods line Cuttalossa. “On Etsy, you can find a ton of woman-owned Eastern European businesses that are making amazing linen quilts, sheet sets, and duvets for less than larger brands cost.” She recommends this double-sided linen quilt from a maker in Odesa, Ukraine: “I love the subtle hues of this quilt, and you can see it’s made with care.” You can customize the back, front, and edge banding, which come in over 30 different colors and patterns.
Best cotton-velvet quilt
Material: Cotton velvet | Style: Channel stitch | Sizes: Full/queen and king
Velvet quilts tend to be heavier, and according to Sherica Maynard of Interior Design by S&S, they “look and feel the most luxurious and expensive.” Decorator Carrie Carrollo recommends this quilt from Target’s in-house brand Threshold. She likes the clean lines of the channel stitching, which she says is stylish but easy to incorporate into any décor. In addition to the cream color shown, it’s available in more shades, including sage green and clay.
Best pebbled quilt
Materials: Organic cotton, cotton fill | Style: Seed stitch | Sizes: Full/queen and king
This Coyuchi quilt has a seed-stitched quilt top: Irregularly spaced stitches are sewn by hand to create a bumpy, pebbled surface. “It’s simple and can go with any look, style, and environment,” says Linda Hayslett of LH.Designs. Both the quilt top and batting are made of organic cotton, and it comes in four neutral colors.
Best Egyptian-cotton quilt
Material: Egyptian-cotton sateen | Style: Chevron | Sizes: Full/queen and king
This sateen Egyptian-cotton quilt from Matouk comes recommended by Achuziam Maha-Sanchez, a co-owner of the Brooklyn boutique Peace & Riot, who described it using a word not often associated with quilts: sexy. The appeal, she says, comes from its paneled chevron rows, which help the quilt give a “modern finish” to a bedroom. You can get it in several alluring colorways, including celadon, Champagne, and coral, in addition to the silver shown. Each has a silky-soft touch, just like the brand’s Egyptian-cotton sheets, which we named our best overall choice.
Best patterned quilts
Best patchwork quilt
Material: Cotton | Style: Box stitch, patchwork (nine-patch pattern) | Size: Throw
This hand-sewn patchwork quilt from Japanese company BasShu takes its inspiration from early-20th-century American quilts — the quilt top is a nine-patch pattern, and the top and bottom are sewn together with a box stitch. Kitchens, who received it as a baby gift from her brother, calls it “an instant heirloom.” Made of cotton, it’s “perfect for tummy time,” washes really well, and is “so soft.” It’s also the perfect size, according to Kitchens, “kind of toddler-bed size. There’s enough room for the baby to spread out and crawl around, and I’ve definitely grabbed it at the end of the day to curl up and watch TV.”
Best upcycled quilt
Materials: Deadstock linen, flannel, or cotton | Style: Patchwork | Size: Throw
For a new quilt with the ethos of an antique, check out the Los Angeles company Suay, which makes throw quilts with fabric left over from its production processes. (If you’re curious about what else it makes, check out these great linen napkins.) Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo loves the “Bauhaus-ish patterns,” which are hand-sewn and totally unique. “No two quiltlets are the same, and the colors are pleasingly acidic and faded, like a treasure found in a great aunt’s attic or a church rummage sale,” she says.
The brand also offers the option to create a customized “memory quilt” with around five to 12 textiles you want to recycle — old T-shirts, worn-out flannel shirts, holey jeans, etc. You can choose from three pattern styles, and the custom piece costs $480.
Best kantha quilt
Material: Cotton | Style: Running stitch | Size: Crib
Hana Getachew, founder of Bolé Road Textiles, loves the “one-of-a-kind” kantha quilts made by her friends at Anchal. Kantha is a traditional Southeast Asian quilt style that recycles fabric scraps to create a multicolor quilt top of large patches that are sewn together with a simple running stitch. “The hand-stitching really gives the pieces a cozy, inviting appeal,” Getachew says.
Best color-block quilt
Materials: Cotton, cotton fill | Style: Channel stitch, colorblock
Because of the time and labor involved, handmade quilts are generally more expensive. But you can also find commercially produced ones that look just as nice, like this three-piece set that includes a quilt and two standard sham covers that designer Rochelle Porter recommends. She loves the soft pastel colors of the abstract, color-blocked design, saying that they “bring instant serenity.”
Best woven quilt
Material: Cotton with cotton filling | Style: Woven | Sizes: Multiple
I love textiles that are the exception to a rule, and unlike most quilts, this sujani quilt is woven entirely on a loom rather than pieced together from different textiles. It’s a traditional style still produced in Bharuch, India, in which cotton padding is stuffed into the textile as it’s being created. (Here’s a video.) I use the queen-size version of this black-and-white quilt as my main bedspread and absolutely love it. It has the heft of a quilt with the breathability of a percale sheet; the material is thickest at the baffles but is only one-ply thick where there isn’t padding, so it’s incredibly breathable and keeps me cool at night. I also love the way it’s finished — you can see how the edges are bound to prevent the textile from unraveling, similar to selvedge denim.
Best vintage quilt
Materials: Wool, cotton | Style: Patchwork (log-cabin or barn-raising pattern) | Size: Twin
In my book, there’s nothing like an antique quilt — it’s a time capsule into textile history, and it’s fascinating to pore over all the different fabric scraps an old patchwork quilt contains. You can find great ones on eBay and Etsy; I recommend looking for a “log cabin” or “barn raising” pattern, which typically features bright-red squares in the center of each block.
Best heirloom quilt
Quilts from Gee’s Bend, Alabama, are artworks in their own right, the product of a deep textile tradition carried on by Black women in this small community. A few years ago, Etsy partnered with the nonprofit Nest and the arts foundation Souls Grown Deep to facilitate Gee’s Bend quilters selling their work on the platform. To make sure as much of your money as possible is going to an authentic Gee’s Bend quiltmaker, check out this list.
Some more bedding essentials we’ve written about
Our experts
• Lauren Ashley Allan, interior designer\
• Carrie Carrollo, decorator
• Alexis Cheung, writer
• Liza Corsillo, Strategist senior writer
• Hana Getachew, founder of Bolé Road Textiles
• Linda Hayslett, LH.Designs
• Jenny Kaplan, founder of design studio An Aesthetic Pursuit
• Simone Kitchens, Strategist senior writer
• Alexandra Lange, architecture critic
• Achuziam Maha-Sanchez, Peace & Riot
• Sherica Maynard, Interior Design by S&S
• Dominique Pariso, Strategist writer
• Rochelle Porter, designer
• Shannon Retseck, Cuttalossa
• Elizabeth Strianese, interior designer
Additional reporting by Lauren Ro
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