How awesome!! I hope someday I get experienced enough to create my own quilt without using a pattern.

Nope, not true in my case! I still read all the directions to every published pattern from the first to the last before I ever pick up a piece of fabric and drag it to my cutting table. If I don't I am sure to make a mistake somewhere. Heck, I might even make a couple anyway! :lol:

i have not ever heard of sub-cut either.. someone is trying to throw us off.. wouldn;t take much for me..glad you got the answer

Not true in my case either, all of my patterns usually say something like first start by cutting however many strips (length or width of fabric) lay aside to be cut into squares or whatever is needed(2 1/2, etc.) later. Have not seen sub cut anywhere. I too read my directions through several times before I start. It sounds like someones trying to be fancy with their instructions, now that I know I will start looking for it.

This is exactly what is meant by sub-cut. You would take the 2 1/2" by WOF (Width of Fabric) cuts and cut these down to 2 1/2" x 36". WOF is normally between 40" and 45", depending on the fabric.

Hi. Me again. It's not just a matter of experience. There is a certain amount of risk involved that you have to be willing to take. For example, you might miscalculate and run short of a fabric. I've done it once (recently) and had to set aside the blue blocks/triangles of which I didn't have enough and search for another piece that was just the right shade of blue and was big enough. I found one, but I got the very last of the bolt and just barely had enough.

The happy ending is that the quilt top is finished except to miter the border corners; it's waiting its turn at the cutting table for that. The quilt top is awesome if I do say so myself (and obviously I do!); eventually I will use the original blue blocks/triangles in something. Nothing goes to waste here.

I've also made several quilts where I end up with exactly the right number of blocks and absolutely no fabric left over to allow for error. If I needed just one more block, I'd have been in trouble and very upset. I always buy fabric when I'm in the mood and usually have it for years before I use it, so there is no way I can go buy more of the same if I run short. I must like living on the edge ... in my quilting world.

[quote=weezie][quote=lneal]This is how I purchase most of my fabric too. I save up for the local Shop Hop (which isn't very local and crosses state borders!) and usually buy a lot of half yard and one-yard cuts at that time. By the time I get around to using it, it's usually been cut up and used for several projects. Hence the reason most of my quilts are scrappy ones. :wink:

I do admit I'll buy quite a few yards when one of my LQS has their flat folds on sale for a $1.99. Heck, I can't beat that so I tend to buy lots for plans for backings later. I just love a good sale! :!:

My daughter and I were making a diaper bag when I saw this term for the first time, last week. I work in a quilt shop, so I thought I was up on the lingo. We figured it out by considering the measurements, but we were a little nervous making the first cut since we had no extra fabric. I have been quilting for 30+ years, so....

You cut the fabric at what measurements is given at first. The subcut is the measurements they tell you to cut from the first measurements of fabric. Like cut 2.5 inch by WOF. subcut that strip into 2.5 (which is already the width) by maybe it might be 6.5 inches. You cut as many as you can get out of that widith of fabric, of 6.5 long.
Clear as mud ah!!
If I have directions like that I have to go over the cuts, until I understand it. Just keep reading the direction until you understand them.
Keep it rocking,
Simple quilter

I have made lots of quilts from the Thimbleberry books and she uses this term a lot. Cut number of strips the first measurement then cut into sub cut or sub sets for instance - cut 6 2-1/2 x wof then cut however many sub cuts or sets to 2-1/2 x 4-1/2. I hope I wasn't too late to help you. :D