borntoquilt

I have been on several web sites today looking for fat quarter sales. When did fat quarters shrink down to 18 x 21 ???? They are still the same price as the 18 x 22's. (I have also noticed this in LQS's!) Is this just another PLOY from the manufacturers to make more $$$ ??? I admit an inch here, inch there may seem like nit picking but all those inches add up to them. Considering they could be selling millions of yards of fabric. Just wondering if I was the only one noticing.... I do not like paying for things I am not getting.... If they want to short us an inch, lower the price !!! I always try to have the store clerk cut my quarters for me even if they have them coming in pre-measured. Thanks for listening!!!

Liz92B

It goes with the full yardage fabric - it's been only 42" wide for quite some time, therefore FQs are only 21" ...

bluteddi

I've begun to see much more fabric only 36 "........ so their FQ could really be small

Helen S

I too have noticed lately that most of the yardage is only 42" wide, hence the 21" width of the fat quarter, as Liz92B pointed out. So, in essence, yes, you're getting less for your money, as in everything else on the market these days. By reducing the container size, (ie the fabric width) manufacturers can justify keeping prices lower, or so they say. I think prices are still going up no matter what size the product is. I agree...nobody likes paying for things we're not getting, but is there an alternative? Probably not.

Skittl1321

18" is the one that has to stay standard. The other is dependent on the width of the fabric.

QuiltE

IF 36", they'll still be able to give you a FQ ... 1/2 of 36 is 18 .... so then they'll just cut it at 21/22" lengths.




A FQ is 1/2 the width, so they can hardly stretch the fabric if it's only 42"!!

Ginaky

A fat quarter of a yard is a fat quarter, period. If the fabric is only 36 inches wide, then a quarter of a yard will be 9 inches long by 36 inches wide. It stands to reason then, that a fat quarter is only going to be 18 inches wide by 18 inches long. There is no written rule that a fat quarter has to be 18 by 21 or 22. It is that because the width of the fabric is 42 or 44 inches.

borntoquilt

Thanks everybody for clearing that up for me! I guess I am stuck back in the OLD days when fabric was still 45"s wide. LOL !! I still haven't gotten use to sewing 3 or 4 WOF strips together and they don't all end @ the same place. That always surprises me.... lol !!!

bearisgray

Back in OLDER days - fabric was 36 inches wide or less. I have a length of 18 inch wide (selvages intact on both sides) calico from?

42 inch wide fabric has been around for at least 20 years (Hoffman and Kaufman are two names that I know of FOR SURE that have had the narrower widths for quite some time.

Interestingly enough, it seems like the 'pricier' lines were narrower before VIP, Peter Pan, Springs, and Marcus Brothers became narrower.

Look at the end of the bolt for the width - or better yet, bring your own tape measure to verify.

Also, some of us factor in shrinkage when we buy fabric. Fabric can shrink lengyhwise, crosswise, and/or both ways - and in a few cases, not at all. And I have run into a couple of weird things that s t r e t c h e d.

So - yelping about fabric becoming narrower - some of it may have - but some of it has 'always' been narrower - seems about as useful as baying at the moon.

I had 'assumed' that two widths of fabrics from the same collection would be measure the same width - so I trimmed off the same amount off the border print that I had trimmed off the main part of a pillowcase I was making - OOPS!

Moral of the story - don't assume!