Many times FQ come in fabrics that are no longer avaliable on the bolt so you get a greater variety. Also there are many patterns such as Yellow brick road that are FQ friendly. I have a pattern that takes 22 FQ- (how hard was that to find that many fat quareters.) Also you get better cutting from FQ than you do 1/4 yd. I feel that the price for FQ is equal to 1/4 price per yard.