Jill00

I am VERY new to quilting and want to make sure I cut this fabric correctly and have enough for all the pieces needed. My fabric is 1 3/4 yard standard width. I need to cut:
4 - 10.5 x 15.5 rectangles
4 - 10.5 x 9.5 rectangles
4 - 12.5 x 12.5 squares
How do I do this?

Macybaby

what do you consider "standard width" for your fabric? I just cut up a bunch of WOF strips and when I lay out to subcut them, most often they are not the same. They run from about 43" down to around 40". And make sure to measure usable fabric, which will not include the selvage edge (and some of they are rather wide).

GingerK

As Macybaby stated, you have to make sure of the actual width of your fabric without selvedge. But another consideration is if the fabric is directional and, if so, do all the pieces in the pattern need to be oriented in the same way. I often get out my graph paper and map out my cutting before picking up my rotary cutter.

sewingpup

you have 1.75 yards of fabric 1.75 x 36 equals 63 inches. I would first cut what I need for the biggest pieces. To get four 12.5 x 12.5-inch squares, I would cut two 12.5-inch strips the width of the fabric which I assume is about 40 inches wide minus the selvage edges. You can get three of the 12.5 x 12.5 squares from one of the 12.5 strips cut. (40 divided by 12.5 = 3.2) so you can only get 3 which would take 37.5 of the inches with a 2.5 piece left over. So cut one of the 12.5 squares from the second strip you cut. 40-12.5 = 27.5 so you have 27.5 inches of the remaining second strip to get 2 of the 10.5 X 9.5-inch rectangles of this remaining part of strip two.
I would then cut 2 10.5-inch strips out of the remaining 38 inches of fabric. You should be able to get two 10.5 X 15.5-inch rectangles out of each of these strips. You might be able to get the other two 10.5 X 9.5 rectangles you need out of these strips too if you have cut carefully. You will still have about 17 inches of your initial fabric if you need to cut another 10.5 strip to get these two.

tallchick

Here is a good place to start, you may need another ruler to get the correct width or if you can use the lines on a cutting mat to line up a straight edge though I do not recommend that, others will say otherwise. In quilting there are a millions ways to achieve the desired affect and you will get lots of opinions. I highly suggest Google and YouTube for finding mehtods that work for you.

https://youtu.be/42w5fuQmqSI

From there you will cut a strip 10.5 inches wide, rotate the strip horizontally and subcut the strip to 15.5. Since the fabric is already folded in half you should end up with 2 10.5 x 15.5 strips provided the fabric is indeed full WOF.
Repeat the same step above for make you next cut for a 10.5 x 9.5, and so forth until you have the necessary amounts.

selm

Are you following a pattern? The pattern usually tells you the order in which to cut the pieces.

Iceblossom

Sadly there is no current "standard" width you can count on. I plan my quilts on a 40" usable strip -- and sadly we really like 42"+ if we can get it, specifically for those 10.5" measurements (4*10.5= 42). So if you have a full 42" of usable fabric it will be much easier. You would need (1) 15.5 inch row, (1) 9.5" row (or 10.5), and (2) 12.5" rows -- you can't get more than (3) 12.5" squares from a row.

If you have that 42" and can get (4) 10.5" across -- you are doing great. Otherwise, you need 3 across. In the leftover from the 15.5" x 10.5" rectangles, you can cut your extra 9.5x10.5 triangle. From the extra from the 12.5" where you only took one square from the strip, you can have the remaining 10.5 x 15.5 rectangle on it's side -- or if you have the length of yardage you could just cut two 15.5" rows, taking the 12.5 square out of that.

How are you cutting? Are you using a rotary cutter and rulers? If so, what rulers. It can really help a new quilter to have the correct dimensions but I can understand not having a lot of rulers. I would say that in addition to a long 6.5" x 24" ruler you should have at least one large square -- 12.5 or 10.5".

Jill00

Thank you all. Very helpful. I've cut smaller strips before and have made a few quilts, it was just the big blocks was confusing me. I got it now! Thanks again.

Barb in Louisiana

One thing I learned very early on with quilting. Sometimes, you have to sew a couple of pieces of your fabric together to make a new piece of fabric big enough to cut that last square/piece. And always cut the biggest pieces first. Another thing that helped me when I just couldn't visualize where the cuts should be, was to cut paper into the sizes I needed and pin them to the fabric. I don't use them as a pattern. They just show me how & where pieces should be placed.

Lowe's has thin wrapping paper for moving and they are relatively cheap. They are about 24 x 30. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blue-Hawk-3...per/1000882128
I have been considering using them for some paper piecing that I have to do. I have a lightbox so it just might work.

sewingsuz

Ice Blossoms is the greatest, I f I need help I will call on you. Super lady~