Originally Posted by adorabowe
Hi all from Australia :)
I have only just discovered quilting and since I have no-one to learn from, pretty grateful for this site! Although it has been taking a bit of time away from my first quilt :lol:
Anyway I was a bit unsure of what to do next and thought I'd benefit from the wisdom of some more experienced quilters. I'm making a form of a nine patch quilt
http://www.craftlovers.com/projects/4746-retro-girl there's the link for a picture but it doesn't have description.
Anyway, my problem is that I want to make a quilt for a queen size bed but am not sure how best to work out how many more squares I need, as this makes 57 inch by 74 inch and I would need102 by 112. It says to cut 384 sqaures of the coloured fabric and 35 of the 6 and half inch squares for the cream fabric. Would I be best to work it out before-hand (even though the maths gives me a headache!) or to join the middle squares as directed and then once I've joined them go back and see how many more I need to make it big enough for the queen size bed? I'm using a jelly roll also and should have more than enough of the coloured fabric, but haven't bought any other fabric yet.
Sorry if this is a bit complicated but I wasn't sure how best to work out how to work out how much larger or how many extra rows I should be adding.
That is a great pattern to start out with. Just nine patches and and a block to match the 9 patch size. Others are a lot better with math than myself but I would buy that pattern as you would have it in front of you to guide you step by step. You would also have it to refer to on any other quilts you make and you will become good at changing things around. All you really have to do is make that pattern and put it on your bed when finished and decide how many more blocks on each side of the quilt you need for your queen size bed. This is a simple approach but since you're learning it is a valuable approach. You might want it wider than a normal queen depending on what look you are wanting. Also remember you can always add another border. Personally, setting a quilt on point when I started years ago would have frustrated me to no end. I'd stick with this one and become comfortable with my piecing and adding rows before I went on to something a bit more challenging. A few of the other ladies gave you the number of squares you would need so refer back to them. I would have to sit at my calculator to work it out for you but I believe they already did. Always buy a bit more fabric for error factor and ask how long they might have the fabrics you're purchasing/ wanting. Sometimes it can sell out and they won't get anymore in so that is also a consideration in how much you should purchase.
Just take your time, enjoy the process and you'll have it figured out before you know it. :-D