Yardage vs precuts vs FQ?
 

Curious as to what people favor for fabric; traditional yardage, fat quarters or the smaller precuts? Do you use different fabric types for different projects?

I can totally see the value of the "new" precuts (charms, jelly rolls, honey buns). It feels like it's a tradeoff for those people who don't like to cut fabric and also for a way to get a whole coordinating fabric collection without the work of picking and choosing fabrics on your own. The downside that I see is... they seem to be a little spendy and isn't it the fabric shopping that attracts many of us to the art of quilting?

Fat quarters have been around forever and it feels like they are a more reasonable way to purchase smaller quantities of fabrics for piecing quilt tops. The downside is that they are smaller pieces and don't seem to be realistic for larger projects unless. It doesn't seem reasonable to buy multiple FQs over a yard of fabric. What's a good price to expect to pay for a FQ? I've seen them run the gambit from $1.00 to $4.99. Does it depend on the fabric quality the same way you might expect a yard of fabric to run from $1.99 to 19.99?

I have always found these pre-cuts to be so over priced but that is just my opinion. I have bought FQs if they are on sale and actually something that I need. I have preferred getting a 1/4 of a yard especially since there are so many quilt patterns using 2.5" strips, that is what works best for me.

A salesperson in an upscale fabric shop told me that for a little more money always to buy a one third yard cut over a fat quarter.

I favor yardage, that's the vast majority of what's in my stash.

Pre-cuts I view as a treat; I often buy them when I'm on vacation as souvenirs, mostly just to justify the extra expense. I tend to use pre-cuts with maybe one background/accent color fabric, so the pre-cuts get center stage. I do buy Hoffman Bali Strips a lot because I love the variety of batiks and in that case, it WOULD cost more to buy enough yardage to get that sort of variety and it'd take me forever to put together 40 different batiks that coordinate.

Fat quarters...I liked them a lot when I was a newbie quilter but now I pretty much regard them as scraps. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing since I love scrappy quilts...I'm just not motivated to buy them and I hate storing them - I usually toss them in the scrap bin, actually, unless it's really "special" fabric. The only FQ's I get these days are given to me or won in raffles at the guild.

I normally buy yardage because I like to wash my fabrics first. I also like it when I pull a fabric and get to go back in time recalling the quilts I made using it. I use fat quarters once in a while but not too often. I have only tried pre-cuts one time and I found them very difficult because nothing was straight and I ended up cutting anyway - so much for time saving.

I like a variety of fabric cuts. Sometimes I want to buy the yardage and cut my fabric for a quilt, but sometimes I want something quick and easy. That's when I pick up the charm squares, jelly rolls, or layer cakes. I know the precuts are more expensive, but they sure do save a lot of time. I also enjoy the fact that you can pick up a precut package and know that everything will match.

I'm a person, who buys up to 3-6 yards. Enough for a quilt top/blocks or backings. I cant see buying 5-20--qrt yrds, or 40 ft qrts to make a quilt/blocks. As to buy either of the shorter cuts, I DON'T

I like FQs for small crafts and scrappy quilts. I normally use FQs to make baby quilts using the Turning Twenty pattern (I just use 6 FQs for a baby quilt).

Welcome to the QB, Shannan. When I was a new quilter [living in MN at the time :thumbup:] I built my stash at Mill End Textiles [closed now :thumbdown: ] and always bought yardage. I have, what I consider, a very large stash. I always wash the fabrics as soon as they come in the house. So I have lots of choices of fabrics to go together if I want strips or scrappies. The fat quarters I have are those given to me or won. Like others, though, I'll buy a token FQ when on vacation if it speaks to me. I never buy precuts... I've seen too many negative posts about cuts not being on size and I can't wash them before quilting.

I rarely buy fat quarters. If a see one that I want, will look at bolts in the store for that fabric and buy 1/2 to 1 yard. If I may use as a border and for a focus fabric, will buy 2-3 yards. I bought so many fat quarters years ago for Turning 20 when priced on sale for 2 for 1. Still may do it. I have 3 charm packs and 1 jelly roll for a couple of years which may turn into a scrap quilt. I made a Christmas table runner from a kit: the charm pack squares that were in the kit were not cut the same.