World Wide Quilting Page
Question of the Week
Question for the week of April 14, 1997:
Our question this week comes from Barbara Barlow
How do you calculate yardage for making quilts?
Steffi Aronson :
guess! You can always use the extra to make a different quilt.
Bonnie Hensley :
I cheat; I use QuiltPro to lay out the quilt, or at least come close. Then I just ask the program to calculate the fabrics for me. This is the major reason I bought quilt software in the first place... I was tired of going back to the store to get more fabric, only to find that 1) they were out, or 2)there are about 300 different blacks in the world....
Diane Meddley :
I purchased a a booklet by Nancy Johnson-Srebro called NO FAIL Fabric Buying Guide. I love it. I shows you how to calculate the exact amount of fabric you need of each color. This booklet is really tear off sheets that you use to write out your information. You get about 20 sheets and I think I paid about $5. The publisher is Silver Star, Inc. RR4, Box 413, Tunkhannock, PA 18657
genie :
If you are going to use borders and stripping it takes 3 1/2 yds for each border. This is for a full or queen sized quilt. That is long enough so that you don't have to piece the border. If you calculate how many of each shaped piece you can get across the width of the fabric and multiply by the number of pieces you need for the quilt or the block you can figure out how much to buy of each fabric. You can guess-timate this way: it takes about 10 yds. to make a full or queen sized pieced top. If you are using a border that takes 3 1/2 leaving 6 1/2 yds. Divide this by the number of fabrics you want to use, lets say 3 different that woul be slightly more than 2 yds. of each. I'd probably by 2 1/2 of each to be on the safe side. Or if I really liked a fabric who knows how much I'd buy. But really, this is how I calculate fabric. For applique quilts its different.
liz roberts :
First I draw one block or section on graph paper. Then I calculate by the inch how much that block would take. Second I determine how many blocks or sections I need and multiply that by the earlier measurements.
Last...I always add a yard to that. I hate running around for more fabric and the extra always goes into a scrap quilt eventually.So far this has worked. Although the one time I didn't add the extra yard I had to run to the store for another quarter yard.
Anthony :
EQ3 (Electric Quilt 3) is avail through AQS(American Quilters Society) for as little as $77; around $110 retail. Not only can you preview how your design will look with various value and color combinations, It gives a very accurate estimate of fabric requirements.
Charlotte :
It all depends on the quilt. You can carefully graph out all the pieces on graph
paper and see how far it goes. This requires the least math of the actual estimate
methods. If you are strip piecing you can add up the units you'll need, divide by 40"
(a conservative estimate of the fabric width) to see how many strips you'll need, and
then multiply by the width of the strips and divide by 36". In real life, I tend to guess. I know that the surface of an average queen quilt is
about 5 yards (2 widths of 45" and 2.5 yds long). That means that I will need more than
that to allow for seams, waste, etc. I measure and chart out the big pieces, and then add
"some" to cover the smaller pieces. You see, I figure that if I don't have enough I can always
buy more or make the quilt a little smaller or make the borders wider.
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