Moda Snow Days Fabrics
 

Our eldest grandson has just been declared cancer free and I wanted to make a quilt for him and his wife. So just before we came back to India the last time, I ordered what I thought would be ample cloth for a queen sized quilt. I purchased Moda "Snow Days" because it had the shades of blue and gray they liked and have begun putting it together in what looked like an easy pattern "16 Patch plus Pinwheels" (http://www.maryquilts.com/16-patch-and-pinwheels/). The pinwheels have turned out very well and today I have begun the 16 patches which seem pretty too.

Now here is my problem. I have realized I probably should have bought border fabric before we left too because it is extremely hard to find online now. I ordered four charm packs (makes 40 pinwheels) and three jelly rolls, but what about the borders? Hancock's of Paducah (http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/Item...-Days--srcin-1) seems to have a few colors left and they are on sale, but they do not have any jelly rolls.

Question #1. The directions on the pattern call for 31 pinwheel blocks and 32 16-patch blocks for a quilt size is 56x72 (twin maybe?). Should I double that for a queen? The blocks are 8 1/2" unfinished. I am concerned I will not have enough.

Question #2. For sure I need material for borders. IF I have enough to make the top, how much cloth do I need to make at least two 5" to 6" borders all around? I plan to make a dark "stopper border" of the navy and then add at least two other colors.

This is a big problem for me and I appreciate anyone who would be willing to help me. I already emailed the lady who made the green 16-patch pattern to ask if she had measurements for a larger quilt and she said she did not have time to answer individual questions like that. What to do?

Please email me if you have any suggestions. I surely would appreciate any help I can get at this point.

I have a book that says the following for queen size overall measurements:
Bed top: 60" wide by 80" long
Quilt used w/dust ruffle: 84"x92"
Quilt to cover entire box spring: 92"x106"

Figuring out your blocks' final dimensions sounds too much like homework (1/2" here, 1/2" there...) for me. I would figure out the 60x80 using your blocks and then add whatever borders make it drop as far as you want.

1. A queen sized mattress is 60" x 80" across the top. If they have a pillowtop mattress, I'd give another 8"-12" drop to cover down the box spring, and another 6" on top of that to cover the box spring. Since most beds are raised, a little extra drop never hurts, but I know you're tight on fabric.

Your dimensions suggest that your quilt pattern calls for 27 blocks of each type (9 rows with three of each block per row), for a 6x9 block quilt that measures 48"x72" before your border. I would suggest not doubling the original dimensions, but adding two blocks to each row and adding 2 more rows. In other words, your finished quilt would be 8x11 blocks (44 blocks of each type), and would measure 64"x88" before your border. If you add a 4" border, you'll end up with a finished quilt size of 72"x96". You can get a queen-sized Warm and Natural pre-packaged batting piece to fit the quilt (they are 90"x108").

2. If you take the advice in #1, then you'll need about 1.25 yards of fabric cut into 4.5" strips. If you can find a jelly roll, you need a total of 335" (~8.5 strips 40" long and 4.5" wide). Those measurements have an extra 12" built into them just in case.

I hope this helps, it's a beautiful pattern and I love your fabrics :)

It sounds like with 31 pinwheels and 32 16 patches, you are making a quilt 7 blocks wide and 9 blocks tall, for a total of 63 blocks. You could up it to 9 x 11, and make a total of 99 blocks. Then you'd be at 72" x 88", plus borders.

Or, if you are out of fabric, you could stick with the original blocks and just get creative with the borders.

I found some of the fabric on Etsy. Just go to Etsy and put Moda Snow Days quilt fabric in the search box.

Kim,

You did the math! Aren't you special?!?!? I tried to visualize the blocks and needed graph paper for my brain to do the work, but I could not find any. Maybe just using the top of the mattress measurements will give me a finished top and I can add borders for the finish. I wish I had been more careful in ordering in the first place!

I have never used Etsy. What kind of company is it? I did a search on Google and came up with Amazon.com over and over. Are they in the fabric business?

I love this line--go to www.quiltshops.com , in search, enter Snow Days--they have lots of shops that have this line-you can shop around for a price also with all choices. Good luck

Jill

I think etsy.com started as a way for homemade things to get sold on-line. Maybe has migrated from that by now. Just type it in like you would to get to amazon.

Thanks Jill, this looks line a handy link for sure.

OK, I took your suggestion and did a long search on Etsy. I searched several fabric stores, but this one (http://www.etsy.com/shop/NauvooQuiltCo) is one I have enjoyed shopping from before. They have beautiful fabrics and good prices too. I had done a search online fur just the name NauvooQuiltCo but their former link (Website) had been taken down. I was sad about that. I hope they make it big on Etsy.

BTW, none of the shops that sold fabric had my Moda Snow Days.

Etsy is an online source for all kinds of handmade items, but you can also find vintage items, and pages and pages of fabric shops. I buy fabric on etsy all the time. The sellers are super easy to deal with, and you can pay with PayPal, which I like, and usually they ship very quickly.

I don't understand that, because I found several pages of snow days fabric.

Well, I found four at this price, but surely there is something else cheaper. I am positive I did not pay that much for mine in the beginning--even when they were not on sale.

Today I ordered the border fabric and think I got a good price plus good choices of colors, but this is all I can find for the last Jelly Roll I need: http://search.myquiltshops.com/cgi-s...gi?thumbnails=

I plan to keep trying to find something cheaper.

Yeah! Guess what I found just now!

http://greenfairyquilts.com/catalog.php

Check out Moda Snow Days Jelly Rolls!

I love your fabric I just finished a lap quilt / twin for my husband. Check at missouri quilt company for fabric. That where I bought mine and they get it to you pretty quick here the states.

In the time it took that woman to not answer your question, she could have answered your question. How rude.

I have shopped Green Fairy before and love their prices and customer service.

I like an 18" drop on all 3 sides, plus extra, maybe 6" to go under the pillows, so that's
60+18+18 = 96" wide and 80+18+6 = 104" long.
To be all blocks that would be 96/8 = 12 blocks wide and 13 blocks long.
Subtracting two blocks for borders: 10 blocks wide and 11 blocks long

GramMer- I don't have any advise about the quilt. Just wanted to say "how wonderful for your grandson to be cancer free." What a blessing.

There's also lot of moda snow days fabric available on eBay .

Be very careful with Etsy...I am not a fan. Ordered fabric for my son's traveling quilt and ended up getting scammed...paid and didn't get the fabric. I was able to file complaints with Etsy and Paypal and got my money back and the 2 sellers banned from Etsy, but I really wanted the fabric!!!

awesome about u`r dgs wish i could help with the math but glad gs is doing

Lots of math here! I can almost feel the heat from the wheels turning. <GRIN>

I think I will make it 10 blocks wide and 11 blocks long as you suggest. Today I was finally able to find the fabric I need (not for backing though), even though I had to order from two different places.

Thanks so much to everyone who helped me with this. The orders will be going to a son's house and I can get the cloth when we go back for visas at the end of April.

You are so right! He had the sentence of death and has returned to work now. The tumor was attached to the back of his heart and around his esophagus and had almost cut of his swallowing. The oncologist said it was the largest he had ever seen except in one much older man. He has about an 1/8" of stubble on his head now and eyebrows too!

I love it so far, great colors!

Now I am struggling with a new problem! I believe everyone knows that moda uses the pinking shears for their pre-cuts and I am OK with that even if I lose a bit of fabric; however, none of the charm packs were even close to a 5" square. I measured every one of the blocks and they were consistently 4.75" or less. That was OK too, because I only needed an 8.5" pinwheel. But the jelly rolls were less than 2.5" and I am barely able to make a seam at all when I sew the strips together. In fact, the seams I have made in my strips (before cutting them into 2" strips again for my squares) are barely seams at all. Literally, the stitching of every seam is right under the VVVV if you can imagine that.

OK, I have not given up yet. The obvious conclusion is to plan to quilt in the ditch or on both sides of the seam for a firm hold. Now with that tiny seam on each side of the Moda-cut, I still find the blocks are going to be less than 8.5" needed. They are are OK on the side I cut, but barely 8.25"on the Moda-cut. Now what? Should I plan a different pattern before I ruin everything?

I have seen a baby quilt with the 4 patches framed (http://quilting.about.com/od/babyqui...ttern.htm?nl=1). OR, I could add a "barely sashing" and trim that to fit the pinwheels if necessary. I am really getting depressed about this project. Please offer suggestions if you don't mind.

Thanks for reading! I hope my explanation is clear.

I live in Portland, Oregon and found Snow Days as a very tempting fabric. It's still available online, in yardage as well as jelly rolls. I would do a fabric search at www.fabshophop.com, go on e-bay, or simply type in Moda Snow days yardage into your browser. I noticed that you put in a nonblue color in at least one pinwheel; you could use that fabric for one of your borders. Good luck.

I thought I would take a few minutes to lay out the blocks I have finished so far. Believe me, I have done lots of picking and re-sewing! I definitely have scant quarter-inch seams, maybe more like 1/8th, but it all seems to be working out. I like the way the blocks appear to be set on point.

I feel so happy that my top is finally being stitched together! I was sure I had no way to finish it because the Moda snow Days line had sold out; however, I was able to find one more charm pack and some yardage for borders before it disappeared totally from the market.

This photo shows the top 2/3's finished and I do have enough to make the other four rows! Yeah!

Have you tried,they seem to have a good choice.

http://webstore.quiltropolis.net/sto...t=&Search_Sku=

Your quilt is lovely - Congratulations to your son! I too like the way it looks like the blocks are on-point. Nice work.

Why have I never seen this site before? What a lovely shop they have and what a blessing they still have Snow Days! When I started this project, I had ordered three jelly rolls, thinking that would barely be enough to make a double bed size and ample for adding the charm pack windmills for a queen. Wow! Was I out on my estimation! My previous experience had only been with the very small jelly rolls and I had no idea how big the Moda jelly rolls were. Of course I have one and 1/2 jelly rolls left over and can now match them up with other blocks to make another quilt for someone.

I am so happy you sent this link! Why would it not show up when I searched only "Moda Snow Days" in Google?

I have just done a google moda snow days and found a few pages. Have a go. I was after one specific pattern and after a google found it in USA my only problem was the postage was more than the fabric. Oh well I have nearly finished the quilt. It one of the disadvantages of using a stash but also the fun of finding.