How much fabric is needed for a king size Snowball quilt?
 

The first quilt that I had ever made was a simple 9 patch for my husband. He has wrapped it around him all these years.

Now it is falling apart and I need to make him a new quilt as quickly as possible.

I thought that I would make him a king size Snowball quilt with alternating 4 patch blocks.

I would like the blocks to be between 10" and 12".

I am stumped to calculate the yardage I will need.

Help!!!

Thank you.

No help here. After years of changing patterns and involving my husband in the calculations the last baby quilt I made a promise that I would use patterns ! Ok - so I mostly use patterns now. Itsn't it normal to just change them a bit -LOL ! Hope someone can help you and happy quilting !

It depends on how large a king size quilt you want. it could be 102x102" to 120x120"

A snowball could be thought of as a 9 patch variation, so 12" blocks would be easier, and 9patch blocks would work better than 4 patch block for the second block, using with 4" finished size using 4.5" squares.

For a 120" quilt, you would need 120/12" blocks or 10 blocks across and 10 blocks down for a total of 100 blocks, half of which are snowballs and half 9 patch.

For the snowballs, you can get 3 blocks from one WOF
So, 50 blocks / 3 per WOF = 17 strips of 12.5"
17 strips x 12.5" = 212.5" of fabric/36 in/yd = 5.9 yd, round to 6 yd

For the corners on the snowballs, you need either 4.5" squares or 4.75" half square triangles.
You can get 8 squares for half square triangles from one WOF (calc at 5")
You need 4 triangles per block /2 triangles per square x 50 squares = 100 5" squares
100 squares / 8 per WOF = 12.5 round to 13 strips 5" wide
13 strips x 5" = 65" /36" per yard = 1.8 yd, round to 2 yd.

The advantage of using the squares instead of half square triangles, is that you can sew a 2d seam 1/2" from the first seam (toward the corner) and end up with bonus blocks of half square triangles.
That takes 4 squares per block, so 50 x 4 = 200 squares at 4.5"
You can get 9 squares per WOF.
200 squares / 9 per WOF = 22.2 round to 23 strips at 4.5"
23 x 4.5" = 103.5" / 36" per yard = 2.9 round to 3 yards.

For the 9 patch blocks, you need 50 x 9 patches = 450 squares 4.5"
450 squares/9 per WOF = 50 strips 4.5" wide
50 x 4.5" = 225 " /36" per yd = 6.25 yd, round to 6.5 yd
This yardage can be divided however you plan the 9 patches

charsuewilson - oh, my goodness. Are you a math whiz or something? I'm very impressed. All those numbers look like Chinese to me. I just end up buying extra fabric, keep making the blocks until it's big enough, and there you go! (I call it the math-aversion method)

ROFL :D you made my day...... hahahah.......... "math aversion" method. I majored in math and still find trying to calc yardage a challenge. I tend to do just as you do and keep making blocks until it's big enough......and I love math.

My biggest problem is trying to include all of the steps in the calculation, so that someone can follow it. I often just skip steps and do the calculation in my head. It is simple arithmetic, multiplication and division.

I'm impressed too! I'm new to quilting (been sewing whole life), & I don't know what size squares blocks go with what size patches, etc. I have to look at a pattern, but when the pattern says use your scraps, it makes it hard to figure out. It's amazing that a King size quilt can take up to 17 1/2 yards. People can think a handcrafted item can cost too much, but when you calculate all the costs (thread, batting, backing, etc.), and not even including the time it takes, they would be pretty surprised.