How much fabric do I need? Help
#1
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: NE California - no where near the Bay Area!
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How much fabric do I need? Help
I am going to town on Saturday, which is 120 miles away, and am going to get fabric for my next quilt. I'm making a double sized quilt that measures approximately 96x110 inches. I am making a log cabin pattern with blocks that will measure 9.5 inches square (includes seam allowance). The quilt should be 11 blocks wide and 13 blocks long. Each block will have 17 different colors of fabrics and each strip is 1.5 inches wide. I found an online fabric calculator which told me that I will need 9.5 yards of 45 inch wide fabric. If I divide that by 17, I end up needing 2/3 yard of each fabric. However, I know that is an average amount and assumes that I'll be using equal quantities of each fabric color. The center square is only 1.5 x 1.5 inches and I'll need 143 squares. The longest strip will be 1.5 x 9.5 inches and again, I'll need 143 strips. I don't want to do the calculus to figure out how much fabric of each color I will need, so I'm hoping someone here can please help me. With fabric being $12.99/yard, and being 120 miles from the quilt store, I can't afford to buy way more than I need, or too little. Thanks. The image below is what the finished square will be like (different colors though).
[ATTACH=CONFIG]399776[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]399776[/ATTACH]
#3
#4
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So, if I multiply 1.5 times the length of each strip that will give me the area of each strip. If I multiply that number by 143 squares, that gives me the total area needed for each color. So, for example, for strip 3, I mulitplied 1.5 x 2.5 x 143 = 536.25 sq in. If 3/8 of a yard of fabric (13.5 x 43 inches wide) has 580.5 sq in, I should need 3/8 yd for strip 3. Is my math correct on this? If this is true, I'll end up buying 13.33 yards of fabric. If so, then I think I've figured this out. Hopefully my 8 years of teaching middle school math is correct.
#5
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Location: NE California - no where near the Bay Area!
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maybe this will help http://www.generations-quilt-pattern...hed-block.html
I'm just glad I'm using rectangles and not triangles. I really don't want to deal with area of triangles, and seam allowances, and hypotenuses, and the Pythagorean theorem. Ugh. I'll stick to rectangles!
#7
ok here goes what i figured
strips inches needed
red and #1 1 1/2 inch strips 6 = 9
#2 9=13.5
#4 12=18
#6 16=24
#8	 19=28.5
10&11 23=34.5
12&13 26=39
14&15 29=43.5
#16 33=49.5
this does not allow for any extra i would buy at a min. at least 1.5 to 3 inches extra on each
this does not come out the same way i posted it but it give the number of strips needed and how many inches to buy
strips inches needed
red and #1 1 1/2 inch strips 6 = 9
#2 9=13.5
#4 12=18
#6 16=24
#8	 19=28.5
10&11 23=34.5
12&13 26=39
14&15 29=43.5
#16 33=49.5
this does not allow for any extra i would buy at a min. at least 1.5 to 3 inches extra on each
this does not come out the same way i posted it but it give the number of strips needed and how many inches to buy
Last edited by sewwhat85; 03-04-2013 at 04:05 PM.
#9
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 3,832
NE California, 120 mi to town! You're no where near Bay Area, or any other town. There's not many towns up there, Susanville, Shasta, Redding, Red Bluff. That far, does take a lot of planning. I thought our trip was difficult. I hope you love where you live. Is it in the Sierra Nevadas or the upper desert?
#10
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 647
I found a quilting calculator that seems to be accurate. I don't know how to make this into a link. http://vrya.net/quilt/index.php
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