Well, I got a request from Lynda in TN wanting to know how much fabric would be needed for this quilt. I don’t have the magazine anymore so I’ve tried to figure it out for her and anyone else that would like to make this lover’s knot.
First, let me tell you how I figure this out. If you don’t want to know how I do this, just skip to the end. Remember this quilt is for a queen size bed….. finished, it’s 81” x 89” and there are 364 blocks, approximately 182 of red centered and 182 of blue centered.
For 182 blue centered blocks, you will need 182 – 1 ½” x 1 ½” pieces. You can get 30 1 ½’ cuts from a piece of fabric 44” wide. There’s about 40” of usable space so don’t use 44” in your calculations….. use 40”. (40” fabric divided by 1 ½” pieces = 26.666 pieces. You have to round DOWN because you need full sized pieces. So, you can get 26 pieces, 1 ½” wide in one strip of fabric.)
You need 182 blue centers. So divide 182 by 26 (the number of pieces you will get per strip cut). 182 divided by 26 = 7. You’ll have to cut 7 strips, 1 ½” wide. And 7 strips times 1 ½” = 10.5 or 10 ½” of fabric.
You will also need blue for the outside layer of the red centered blocks. Those pieces are 3 ½´x 1 ½” and 4 ½” x 1 ½”. And, you’ll need 182 pieces of each of those. (40” divided by 3 ½” = 11.42… round DOWN to 11 pcs per strip. 182 divided by 11 = 16.54… round UP this time = 17 strips. 17 strips x 1 ½” = 28 ½” inches.) and (40” divided by 4 ½” = 8.88888…round DOWN to pcs. per strip. 182 divided by 8 = 22.75… round UP to 23 strips. 23 strips x 1 ½” = 34.5 inches.)
Now add it all together. 10 ½” + 28 ½” + 34 ½” = 73.5” of blue (73.5” divided by 36” (one yard) = 2 yards (72”) + 1 ½” more. You should buy 2 ¼ yards of blue.
Okay, here’s the tally now:
Blue (color 2) = 2 ¼ yards
Red (color 1) = 2 ¾ yards for blocks and inner border
Cream tone on tone (color 3) = 2 ¼ yards for blocks and triangles
Cream print (color 4) = 3 ½ yards for blocks and outside border
I would buy an extra yard of each fabric to be safe…. The measurements are for tight cuts. Besides, extra fabric builds stash. That’s a good thing. Any questions? Just ask.