Fat quarter dimensions
 

When cutting and sending fat quarters to someone in trade or for secret santa, which way do most quilters prefer to have theirs cut? WOF by 9 inches or 21 inches by 18 inches? Thanks in advance for your advice.

A FQ is 21x18

WOF x 9 inches would be a Skinny Quarter, not a Fat Quarter.



..... a Canadian FQ is 21x20!

Oh, that's good to know. I need to send a FQ to a canadian quilter. I didn't think about their measurements being in meters rather than yards. Thanks

Canadians do not expect quarter meters from folks in the US. They are quite used to receiving quarter yards from us, both in trades and from shops. Just saying. :)

I know and agree ... just the difference.
And too ... most times they are cut as the regular FQ sizes.
The odd store does the super size!

As for the OP ... if you're doing an exhange/swap etc. there's really only the one size as the other size you gave would not be a FQ.

Thank you all for this information. Wanted to make sure recipient was getting what they really needed.

FQ is defined as a quarter yard cut "fat". IOW - you cut one HALF yard by the WOF then cut the WOF in half making a quarter yard total square inches.

So ... given that a YARD is defined as 36" ... a FQ is ALWAYS at least 18" X (1/2 the WOF). The 1/2 the WOF can vary from bolt to bolt but is generally 44" so *most* FQ's are 18" X 22".

I live in Canada and belong to a FQ swap group. I recently learned about the difference in sizes between US and Canada fq in stores. I assumed in Canada they would all be in metric size but someone said that is wrong. One person said she received one that was too small and they should all be at minimum twenty inches along the selvage side so they would be about twenty one by twenty. So that being said, a metre is 39.37 inches to be exact. However if the store cuts exactly that amount with not allowing extra, then by buying a full metre as suggested and cutting it, then half of 39.37 is not going to give a "minimum" of 20 inches long. How do you get around this without buying more and thus the fat quarter costing more? I may not sign up for more swaps if it is going to be measured that close.

Maybe - because there are members from many countries on this forum - that a FQ should be stated as
18 inches by half the width of the fabric - and I have "regular" quilting cottons that are as narrow as 40 inches and as wide as 45 inches.

So - A FQ could be as narrow as 20 inches and as wide as 22.5 inches by 18 inches and still qualify. IMO.

The 18" is the important part, as that is what makes it "fat". The rest is determined by WOF.