Originally Posted by seamstome
Real quarter is 9 by 44. Two real quarters laid top to bottom is a half yard. FQ is 18 by 22 so two FQ side by side is a regular half (18 by 44.
So in essense four FQ's equal a yard just like four real quarters do, it's just how you get there.
careful here. fat quarters are not always 18 x 22 because yardage is not always 44 wide. sometimes it's only 42 wide. sometimes you get shorted and sometimes what you get is a wide selvedge that's unusable. ask if you can see and measure before you buy that way. also, as said above, allow for shrinkage and fraying in the (pre)wash. also allow for waste pieces that may be too small for your project that wouldn't have existed if you had bought plain yardage.