Originally Posted by
patdesign
I by the way never heard the fat quarters called thin quarters, is there a difference perhaps in the way they are cut?
Yes, that is exactly the difference. A bolt of fabric is (usually) 44" wide. If you cut a quarter of a yard, it's 9 inches wide by 44 inches long. If you cut a half yard (18 inches), then cut it in half again (22 inches) you get a piece of fabric that is almost square at 18 x 22 inches. This is called a fat quarter, because it is still a quarter of a yard but instead of being skinny and long, it's fat and short. The actual "area" of the fabric stays the same. (9 x 44 = 396, 18 x 22 = 396.)