Need some Help with online pattern....calculating fabric needed
 

I printed out this pattern from Quilt Blocks Galore http://www.quilterscache.com/C/CentifoursBlock.html (it is more readable if you set it up to print and also you have to click on "page 2" located at the bottom of page 1 to see it) OK if you got through that confusing instruction of mine....what I want to know is how do I figure how much fabric I need for the whole quilt? It looks like the Supply list on page 2 is only for 1 block...???

I really want to make this, but I am stuck before I begin.

What size quilt do you want to make? How many blocks across and down? I'm sure once you figure that out someone will be able to help. It will make a lovely quilt :)

Looking at it quickly, if you want to make it 20 blocks as it shows on page 2, for the blocks you would need:

Fabric 1 1 yard
Fabric 2 1 3/4 yards
Fabric 3 2 3/4 yards

I usually get a little more of each "just in case" so I would add about a 1/2 yard to each fabric. That would make it 5 1/2 yards before adding extra, or 7 yards if you did.
I would double check these numbers in the morning though. Time for bed now.

Ladybug...how did you calculate it to arrive at the yardage?

I just realized that as this is shown it will by only about 40" wide since each piece is 1" or 2" wide...not what I was picturing...this will need some alternations to make it big enough to use on a bed. Makes a lap quilt size. A lot of small piecing for a lap quilt...hmmm.

I took the number of strips you would need for each part of the block and multiplied it by the number of blocks. Then figured that if your width of fabric is 40", how much you would need in length to cut the strips.
So, say you have to get 20 pieces of fabric that are 11/2 X 5, you times that and get one strip at 40" wide will give you 8 pieces and two will give you 16' so three will give you more than the 20 ( you will get 24 ), so three strips cut at 11/2 inches, is 41/2 inches by 40 inches (WOF ). Of course you can't actually get it out of 41/2 inches because of your cutting, so I add an inch or so for that. It ends up being more like 51/2 or 6 X 40.
You do that for each part and then add it up for each fabric. Since you know a yard is 36 x 40 you can figure it out. I haven't gone back and rechecked the numbers from last night, so you might want to do that before you buy any fabric.

THank you VERY MUCH Ladybug....

she has a lot of help on her site.

go here for how to plan a quilt & calculate fabric needs. she also has a fabric calculator...but then, so do a lot of sites. some work well. some are just ok. good luck

http://www.quilterscache.com/StartQu...iltingtwo.html

This is precisely why I purchased Electric Quilt. Best of all I can simply save it in my files for future use and if I want to enlarge it there's no more calculation to do.

What an excellent post. I ALWAYS appreciate these very clear explanations that are so helpful to folks who might have a math phobia. I think it's extremely important we know the steps required to figure out by ourselves how much fabric and these are the topics you don't see explained in detail in most of the quilting books, thank you.

Another help for figuring fabric amounts on the fly is the Quilter's FabriCalc that does just these sort of calculations too. As you can see when you are in a fabric store and you spy this absolutely MUST HAVE fabric (LOL aren't they all), I can whip out my traveling quilting calc and easily estimate. However nothing substitutes for knowing how to do it from scratch.

I am happy to help if I can. I hope you'll post a picture if you make it.