It would depend on what kind of quilts you make. I don't like the 9" because you can't cut 2 - 5" squares. If you use 4 1/2" squares then they might be good. If you like paperpiecing they are good because you have a lot of variety. The layer cakes are good because you can get 4 - 5" squares out of them. The pre-cuts are great for quick projects, like table runners, potholders, etc. Just think about how you use your fabric.

I sometimes buy FQ when they are on sale & once in awhile a jelly roll or charm packs. Mostly I buy yardage. I think the fat 1/8 would be just too small for me. I probably wouldn't buy them.

i don't usually buy less than 1 yard of anything unless it's a remnant. Nothings worse than putting together an idea and not having enough to fill in the design.

I have consistently found that all FQ packs are not cut at 18 x 22 - squaring them up will result in loss of fabric. If you try to square up a fat eighth, I would think it would be more frustrating. I believe that patterns developed for FQ, jelly rolls, layer cakes, etc. allow for a little wiggle room.

I love the precuts, I save money by not buying extra fabric that I don't need. I might buy them if there was a theme to them (candy, fruit. etc). It also depends how many fat 1/8th to a pack. For the most part, I doubt that I would buy them like I buy jelly rolls, charm packs and layer cakes.

A fat eighth is 9 x 22 so if you are a scrap quilt lover they are nice, more than a layer cake but less than a FQ and a sample of each fabric in a group. Left overs will usually go with other groups from the same maker. I like them for scrappy or applique but have to buy extra for borders or background. To each his own.

This is also the way I feel!

Made a wonderful lap quilt using Moda charm packs. I do occasionally get FQ as I have a pattern that calls for FQ but I also cut my own FQs from yardage.

Buying fat 8th depends on what kind of quiltmaking you do.
If you are looking for lots of different colors and designs for more scrappy quilts then they work. But to me, they are useless for 99.99% of my quiltmaking regardless of the cost. Then you can always give them to a quilting friend and let him/her worry about using the smaller pieces.

I love precuts--but an 1/8th wouldn't be on my wish list...I would just get the quarters--and use the extra for something else.. :)

Well, realistically, if you subcut the Fat8's, you would get 4 sets of charms, 1/2 a honey bun, and 1/2 a jelly roll. That's a lot of variety for me.

I think for someone starting out and making smaller projects, they are a great idea. Without a whole lot of money, you can get a wide variety of fabric. They are great for smaller projects, or for "scrappy quilts", or for quilts that don't repeat block selections. They are a great way to increase the color options you have without having to mortage your house.

I find the more I quilt, the more I find some of these fabrics that I want more of to do a larger project or more projects with. And, I find some of the fabric that I wouldn't ever want to use again (due to color fade or pulling one direction, whatever) and I'm glad I didn't waste money on a huge batch of it.

I think it really depends on how you quilt.

I bought a pack of 5 inch squares and most of them were just as you said- fabrics that I would never buy. But, when I put them together in a project, I was pleasantly surprised that they actually looked good together. When I posted the picture of the final project, people raved over the color selection. Through that I've learned that pretty by itself doesn't always translate into pretty in the project- you can take an ugly fabric and make a pretty project of it anyway. Sometimes that's a challenge that makes you feel good about yourself.

I have bought a pack of fat quarters once (Moda; soft, romantic pastels) but it was expensive and I only bought it because I had a scrap quilt pattern already in mind when I bought it. I doubt that I would ever buy a package of 8ths because I just wouldn't know what to do with such small pieces of fabric and I'm way too frugal to let it just sit around without ever turning into a quilt.

I don't usually buy precuts as I do mostly large planned quilts. I have a shoe box of fatquarter that I have been given either at quild or shop hops, etc. I bought one charm pack (Elenor Burns design) that I really loved the colors and made a table runner for our quilt auction at guild. I have a layer cake that I will add to and make two twin size quilts out of (It was on sale) and I have a jelly roll, again I really love the colors and love the pattern that went with it.
Most of the time I don't like many of the fabrics in the packages and because I am a perfectionist I don't like charm pack because they really aren't 5" square. Also the price is usually a lot more.

Fat eighths just are too small. With a FQ, you can make something. I'd get more out of scrounging through the remnant barrel.

All I've ever purchased were a few fat quarters. Much prefer buying yardage, even if it's just a yard.

Fat quarters are as small as I'd ever go. Even with them sometimes I regret not going all the way and buying a yard or more of the fabric 'cause whenever I have tried to get more it's always gone. 8-)

I don't like them either because I prefer to wash my fabric. I do like to buy my fabric by the meter so I know that I have plenty for any big project if I want.

I would consider buying fat eighths for projects making small size blocks such as ones in the Dear Jane or Farmer's Wife books.

And I would pre-wash them.

I really don't know what I would do if I was just starting to build a stash - aka hoarding fabric -

As it is, I usually have so many leftovers/scraps from other projects, that deliberately buying small pieces of fabric would be very hard for me to do. Especially when the price per yard would be considerably more than the off-the-bolt price per yard.

Actually, the price isn't that much more than the off-the-bolt price per yard. 40 fat 8ths is 5 yards or $50 OTB. There's a small charge for variety and cutting, but not that great.

I just found this to be very true for a set of FQ fabrics that were packaged as singles- the actual measurements were all over the place! Worse yet, once I washed them and ironed them true to the grain, many were cut on an odd angle, making them even more frustrating to work with. The FQ I have bought from Keepsake Quilter were all nicely cut, but these ones were bought from a local fabric store and I have been highly, highly disappointed with them. Newbiequilter is right, I think with a smaller piece, these irritations would be even more noticeable. Another note, the pieces I bought separately packaged often have a color streak where they weren't printed perfectly, and those imperfections didn't show from the outside.

If you are looking to do applicae, fat 1/8ths might give you a good feel to see if you want to buy more of several of those pieces, but really watch where you buy these from to insure QUALITY of the cuts!

I don't by bundles of FQ's or F8's, but I have been known to buy a 1/4 yd of a large grouping of a particular line I like just so I have a nice sampling. Half yard can get real expensive if you want to buy a little of most everything in a line. I'm a collector. However, I can work the 9X42 pieces into some sort of throw quilt with some additional fabric for borders and backing.

Well, I just love all of you who buy yardage off of the bolt! I usually get my best scraps from my friends who do so. A couple of things that you have to remember is that those of us who buy precuts or fat quarters, or 1/8's are lovers of variety or scrappy quilts. If precuts were not available (and I remember a time when they were not), I would have to buy 40 half-yard cuts (because most shops wont sell cuts less than that) just to get a ''taste'' of each one. Then, I would have too much left over; whereas, if I buy a layer cake, for example, I am only spending 35 dollars and getting exactly the amount that I want of each fabric. Not to mention that there are few shops that purchase a whole line of a design. I would have to buy fabric from 20 different shops to get each one of the fabrics in the line. Last, (and you are going to love this one) Those of us who buy precuts, do so knowing that were are spending a little more per yard (fat quarter bundles run about 110 dollars these days) This helps the fabric companies keep the bolt yardage price down, well, somewhat ;). The funny thing is, many times, fat quarters are way too big for me to work with.