Need help! how much fabric to buy
 

I have decided it is time to step up from baby quilts. I want to make a full size nine patch. I watched a tutorial and I am sure I will be able to get it done. My problem is I can't find a pattern. Can anyone help me out with how much fabric to buy and how many colors used. Thanks for any help

you don't need a pattern... get some colored pencils and some graph paper... color in the squares in a pleasing combination and begin to assemble your completed blocks... when you have a bunch, lay them out on your design wall.... if you don't have a design wall, place a blanket on an extra bed, lay out blocks, then carefully fold blanket up at the end of your sewing session... note where the top of the folds are on the bed so you can put it back in the same position the next time you are ready to lay out more blocks... I (and many other quilters) never plan a border till we get the center assembled... you do NOT know when you begin how the center will look till it is in one piece... look for ideas, but how big? how many blocks? how many colors? which colors? all these are things that are doable by you... check online for pictures... it will give you ideas... and look in your closet to see which colors you love to live with... the quilt will be YOURS...

Here's a link to a free pattern.

http://carterquilter.wordpress.com/t...tern/#!/page/1


But I agree you don't really need one. Only you can really decide if you want borders or not and how many, how far down the sides of the bed you want the quilt to extend, etc. You can use what's in the pattern to get an idea of how much fabric you will need. The quilt in the pattern will extend about 16 inches down on each side.

I sooo agree with deemail something as easy as a 9 patch is just fun enjoy.........sometimes you have to over buy fabric or just go back and get more if needed

krisb and jadie both have good points... i would probably say to do your first quilt without a pattern with some solids and some scrap fabrics... that way if you run out... (or get it done and then decide you want it 2 rows longer and wider, I do this all the time)... you can just buy more fabrics and extend... this is why i don't start sewing blocks together till i know it's as big as i really want... scrappy lets you expand or contract with no penalties...

You can use any number of fabrics you choose in a 9-patch quilt. Every square can be different if that is what you want. The total amount of fabric will depend on several things - the size of each patch in the 9-patch, the finished size of the quilt that you want, and whether you want to put borders on your quilt. If you answer those questions, we can give you a rough idea of how much total yardage you will need.

Just a quick thought. When you are deciding how big you want it, you'll want to take a ruler and measure from the edge of the bed to how far you want the quilt to hang down toward the floor. Double that to compensate for the other side of the bed. Do the same for the foot of the bed. You'll have to decide whether you want the quilt to cover the pillows and whether or not you want the quilt tucked under the pillows. Once you have all that figured out, you can start to figure out how much fabric you need. If you want to send me a private message, feel free to do so and I can help you figure it out. Good luck.

Don't mean to pedal a product, but I absolutely love my fabric calculator, comes in handy for math on quilts where its your own pattern or you are changing sizes, got mine using a coupon at joanns. they come with a book that tells you how to calculate yardage for squares triangles, blocks, borders, binding, etc...

Thanks for all your help. I will be off fabric shopping sometime this week. May be back with more questions.