The Math of Quilting
The Math of Quilting Lesson 4 – June 2016 Calculating Quilt Yardages Most quilting fabric is 42-44” wide. To avoid not having enough fabric, always use 42” as your Width of Fabric (WOF) measurement when calculating yardage. Often, quilt patterns call for Fat Quarters or Fat 8ths. The charts below will help you understand the measurements of these cuts of fabric better.
To calculate how much yardage you will need for a certain number of squares or strips, you will perform simple mathematical calculations. For example:
If you need five 6” strips for you quilt, you will need 30” of fabric. If you need eight 5” squares, you know that 8x5=40, which is 2 inches less than one Width of Fabric, so you will need a 5” strip of fabric. If you need twelve 5” squares, you will have to have two 5” strips, or 10” and so on. When figuring out yardage for squares, base all your calculations on how many squares in a 42” strip, and then how many strips it will take to be able to cut that number of squares. If you are figuring out fat quarters, you will figure based on an 18 x 21” piece of fabric, etc.
Practice: How much yardage will you need if you are trying to cut [36] – 4” squares of one fabric? ____________
If you were using fat quarters to cut the squares, how many would you need? ______________________
Homework: Use the graph paper provided and draw a simple mini quilt design using squares and half-square triangles. Use the scale 1 square = 1 inch. Calculate how much yardage you will need of each fabric used in your design. Remember 1 square of background paired with one square of a print or darker solid will yield 2 half square triangles.
BONUS: Test your mini quilt pattern and bring it for show and tell next month!
To calculate how much yardage you will need for a certain number of squares or strips, you will perform simple mathematical calculations. For example:
If you need five 6” strips for you quilt, you will need 30” of fabric. If you need eight 5” squares, you know that 8x5=40, which is 2 inches less than one Width of Fabric, so you will need a 5” strip of fabric. If you need twelve 5” squares, you will have to have two 5” strips, or 10” and so on. When figuring out yardage for squares, base all your calculations on how many squares in a 42” strip, and then how many strips it will take to be able to cut that number of squares. If you are figuring out fat quarters, you will figure based on an 18 x 21” piece of fabric, etc.
Practice: How much yardage will you need if you are trying to cut [36] – 4” squares of one fabric? ____________
If you were using fat quarters to cut the squares, how many would you need? ______________________
Homework: Use the graph paper provided and draw a simple mini quilt design using squares and half-square triangles. Use the scale 1 square = 1 inch. Calculate how much yardage you will need of each fabric used in your design. Remember 1 square of background paired with one square of a print or darker solid will yield 2 half square triangles.
BONUS: Test your mini quilt pattern and bring it for show and tell next month!
