Fat Quarters
07-20-2010, 06:14 AM
#31
Power Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 24,400
I have fabrics for sale that range in width from 41-1/2 inches to 44-3/4 inches.
These are all at least five years old, some of them are around ten years old.
These include some brands/lines that are considered "better" (as far as I know) - Maywood, David Textiles, Nancy Crow, Robert Kaufman.
A couple of them had no name on the selvage, but feel like "good stuff"
These are all at least five years old, some of them are around ten years old.
These include some brands/lines that are considered "better" (as far as I know) - Maywood, David Textiles, Nancy Crow, Robert Kaufman.
A couple of them had no name on the selvage, but feel like "good stuff"
07-20-2010, 07:10 AM
#32
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: GREAT STATE OF TEXAS
Posts: 1,415
Originally Posted by LadyCougar
Hey everyone just wanted to give you a heads up - I purchased about 3 dozen fat quarters from Joann's - every one of them was short by 2" - they are 18"x20" - just beware. I have written to Joann's management team to find out what they are going to do about it. I'll keep you posted.
A 20" width is due to skimpier fabric width - not a full 44". Fabric widths vary quite a bit. We will probably be seeing this more & more ...
07-20-2010, 07:26 AM
#33
Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Loiisiana
Posts: 269
Same thing happened to me. Could it be that the fabric company is trying to squeeze out every inch of fabric to make a buck? I think they cut those (jelly roll) strips first and then use the rest for the "fat quarter". Just an idea I had.
I purchased a package of 20 coordinating fat quarters from JoAnn's a while back--waited until they were on sale. I was planning to make a Turning Twenty quilt. I ironed each one and then went to cut. They were much smaller than what a regular fat quarter should measure. Thank goodness the Turning Twenty quilt had instructions "in case" the measurements were different. I think the author must have had the same experience.
I purchased a package of 20 coordinating fat quarters from JoAnn's a while back--waited until they were on sale. I was planning to make a Turning Twenty quilt. I ironed each one and then went to cut. They were much smaller than what a regular fat quarter should measure. Thank goodness the Turning Twenty quilt had instructions "in case" the measurements were different. I think the author must have had the same experience.
07-20-2010, 01:13 PM
#36
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Ohio
Posts: 5,314
Not too long ago our Jo Anns had a sign posted stating that they had a new supplier and that the fat quarters were going to be off size. Some could be smaller some could be larger. I am sure more will be smaller rather the larger. They also went up 50 cents form 99cents to a 1.49
07-20-2010, 03:29 PM
#38
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Western Nevada
Posts: 2,520
We haven't seen any of the brands we carry reduce their width to 40" yet, and haven't been notified of any width reduction either.
Just price increases. :thumbdown:
If you're seeing abnormally wide selvedge edges on the printed side, you've probably got a factory second. Hopefully you got it cheap.
Most batik fabrics are an inch or so narrower to start with, however some are a full 44+" wide. It depends on the buyer's specifications for greige goods to the "factories" making the product.
Some of the problem may come from cutting technique and the way the fabric is doubled. We see a lot of bolts that are unevenly doubled, with one side up to an inch bigger than the other. This means the fold is closer to one side than the other. (This I think is due to ill-trained or sloppy operators on the double and roll machines, or poorly aligned machines. It makes us scream sometimes when fabrics come in all misaligned and/or wrinkled up. When we see multiple examples of this, we report it to the manufacturers and our sales reps. We've even returned fabrics that were horridly rolled. If you're a shop owner, we encourage you to do the same, it's the only way to get them to clean up their act.)
If the bolt is improperly rolled and the person cutting the FQ's just follows the fold on the quarter cut, you'll have one FQ larger than standard and another smaller. So the person cutting the FQ's really needs to even up the two sides before cutting, to make them equal.
Since a lot of FQ patterns depend on a properly-sized FQ, and we sell a lot of batiks, a couple years ago we started cutting all our batik FQ's at 22" rather than 18". We call them "Chubbies." (Cindy named them after me) :mrgreen:
We cut all our non-batik FQ's at 19" to guard against problems in cutting that could possibly occur.
You may pay a little more by shopping at a good online or B&M fabric store, but instead of a corporate bean counter being in charge of how fabrics are cut and sold, it'll be another quilter making the decisions...
Just price increases. :thumbdown:
If you're seeing abnormally wide selvedge edges on the printed side, you've probably got a factory second. Hopefully you got it cheap.
Most batik fabrics are an inch or so narrower to start with, however some are a full 44+" wide. It depends on the buyer's specifications for greige goods to the "factories" making the product.
Some of the problem may come from cutting technique and the way the fabric is doubled. We see a lot of bolts that are unevenly doubled, with one side up to an inch bigger than the other. This means the fold is closer to one side than the other. (This I think is due to ill-trained or sloppy operators on the double and roll machines, or poorly aligned machines. It makes us scream sometimes when fabrics come in all misaligned and/or wrinkled up. When we see multiple examples of this, we report it to the manufacturers and our sales reps. We've even returned fabrics that were horridly rolled. If you're a shop owner, we encourage you to do the same, it's the only way to get them to clean up their act.)
If the bolt is improperly rolled and the person cutting the FQ's just follows the fold on the quarter cut, you'll have one FQ larger than standard and another smaller. So the person cutting the FQ's really needs to even up the two sides before cutting, to make them equal.
Since a lot of FQ patterns depend on a properly-sized FQ, and we sell a lot of batiks, a couple years ago we started cutting all our batik FQ's at 22" rather than 18". We call them "Chubbies." (Cindy named them after me) :mrgreen:
We cut all our non-batik FQ's at 19" to guard against problems in cutting that could possibly occur.
You may pay a little more by shopping at a good online or B&M fabric store, but instead of a corporate bean counter being in charge of how fabrics are cut and sold, it'll be another quilter making the decisions...
07-20-2010, 04:03 PM
#39
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Where ever motor home stops
Posts: 117
Thanks for the enlightenment! I would never have thought to look at what the actual size is until I went to use it and it was too short. Customers just have to check EVERYTHING these days!
07-20-2010, 04:03 PM
#40
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 6,395
I was in one shop recently where the lady cutting the fabric was VERY careful to cut EXACTLY on the one yard mark, commenting as she did so that the powers that be had gotten very strict about it being 'one yard, no more, no less' and not wanting to get in trouble.
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