PreCuts & QUILTING ~ Jelly Rolls ~ Layer Cakes & More
 

I'm interested in knowing how many people
buy and use precuts in their quilting projects and why.

what are your favorite precuts ?

I recently purchased a well known manufactures charm pack, thinking it was a good way to get the variety without going to many shops and having to purchase more fabric than I needed ( many shops have a minimum that will cut). Even though I broke my rule of not buying because of cutting variances... I did it any way... well back to my rule of not buying precuts. The charms were off 1/4 inch on one side... so much for a fast easy project. I hade to recut and the pattern I had my heart set on was to use every bit of the 5 inch square.

wow I use tons of precuts and have yet to have an issue.
I'm sure machines need to be calibrated or something on a regular basis.
and I believe it would be up to us the customer to let them know something is off...IMHO
I can see how it would throw your project off.

I buy very few pre-cuts for the simple fact they are always off from 1/4" - an inch. I like to go to the store and just get the yardage and even then I will buy an extra 1/2 yard atleast to allow for shrinkage for pre washing. If I run out I can go down the road. The majority of the quilt shops I go to most often are within a couple miles and getting on the freeway can get me there in a matter of about 5-8 minutes.

I have had good luck with Moda. Joannes are horrible as are Wal Mart. A friend used the Bali Pops and they were really off.

I have found precuts very tempting but the price is so high when you consider what you are paying in a premium. I am on a very limited budget. But I have recently bought (they were on sale for less than the price per yard) two packages of TT
6" precuts (6"WOF). I haven't found the right pattern for them yet.

I have bought a few charm packs from MSQC when they were the daily deal (and when I needed other things from them to justify the shipping) simply for the variety. They are nice enough, but I enjoy cutting my own pieces, so I don't rely upon them. If I had trouble physically cutting, I think they would be a godsend.

Has anyone worked out the cost per yard of precuts?

I usually pick up some jelly rolls when I go to a quilt show, it is a nice way to get a variation in color without having tons of fabrics :) I always keep a few on hand just in case I need a "oh can you make a quilt for...." from my mom. :) Who seems to think it is her life long mission to keep me behind in quilting....lol

You can get 14 strips at 2.5in per yard of material. So you would need about 2 7/8 yds of fabric to equal a jelly roll ( or there abouts) assuming 40 strips in a jelly roll.

At lets say $11.95/yd fabric, then that is $11.95 * 3yds = $35.85, typical jelly rolls are around $30-35 each....

so assuming variations in fabric prices (balis more than printed) then you are basically paying the same as yardage. The difference is that you get anywhere from 20 - 40 different fabrics rather than a handful.

For me the search for the fabric is half the fun! I then cut my own strips or squares and know they are accurate.

I LOVE using precuts. I use them all the time. So far I have only ordered Moda and I have never been disappointed with the sizes being off!

I don't buy them to save money. It's so easy to pick a few precuts in the the same line and have everything coordinated. The layer cakes are the perfect size for most of my Go dies. The pinking edge doesn't bother me, I just see it as a straight edge with gaps.

I recently purchased snaps, I needed a variety of greens for an appliqué project. I think it depends on the project, if one needs a variety of colors for a small project..........calla

So far, I have been collecting pre- cuts. 5" charms to be exact. I fell in love with the fabric lines and it was a good way to get just a bit of the entire line. Its a small collection. About ten or fifteen packs just waiting for the right patterns. (Mostly Moda charms.) I am thankful for my go cutter. I can always straighten (somewhat) if i have to or go smaller. I will keep in mind the patterns and add in tone on tones in case the charms are not the correct size. I'm mostly a scrap quilter. So, I can pretty much make it work if i have to.

I buy them from time to time if I really like the collection, and I get it on sale. I'm not much for charm packs as I think they are too limiting if I don't have a project in mind, but I will get a layer cake. I have bought a few jelly rolls, but I'm not a big fan of those. I like them when I want/need a quick project - a silent auction quilt or something like that where I don't have to spend any time accumulating fabric. My most favorite would be a fat quarter bundle, but that can be a significant investment.

I don't buy precuts. I have to prewash my fabric before using it, and I was always afraid the precuts would be hard to prewash.

I only buy precuts if I have a specific pattern in mind and I love the collection of fabric. I really hate the zig zagged edges so I don't buy them a lot.

I don't usually but precuts. The one good thing about them is that you get so many coordinated fabrics without buying yardage for each.

I love buying and using precuts. For me they are a verycost effective way to get a variety, and a piece of the entire line. I really have fun with them.

I saw some at a show once and almost got them, but they were cut with pinking shears and I would have to re-cut, so I let them be.

If you don't have a large stash pre cuts are easy to use. But I rarely buy them now as I am usually working on more modern designs that have different size-cut needs and pre cuts just don't work.

I am the queen of Pre-cut purchases - I love, love, love pre-cuts - it makes it so much easier to complete a project - I know all the fabrics will coordinate and I often hear from others - "Wow, you really have an eye for color" Yes, I do (wink, wink) I love jelly rolls, charm packs, mini charm packs, layer cakes, fat quarter bundles. I don't buy hexagons and rarely will I buy honey buns - I always look for sales and check out many sites before I buy - I usually buy Moda, Riley Blake or Robert Kaufman - I've never had a problem with sizes on my precuts - also I do not have an accuquilt cutter or any other cutting device (other than my rotary cutter and ruler) so I like how it saves me time. I have found many free patterns and I have many books using pre-cuts. I don't usually pay full price - so you can find great deals and the fabric is first rate - so I will continue to buy pre-cuts as long as I can.

I'm another lover of pre cuts. I like the assortment of fabrics in a precut package and the fact that these fabrics all go together. I use charm packs and jelly rolls; but layer cakes are my favorite. I primarily use Moda pre cuts. I have had a few problems with pre cuts from others; but not enough to stop me from using them.

i recently purchased two fat quarter packs and made a mistake. i should have checked out the fabrics on line first, because when i got them home and opened them up they had so much more pink than i could have believed possible given what i could see in the folded stack.

i ended up using them, but i had to be careful to minimize the pink because the person who commissioned the quilt does not especially like that colour.

i do think they are a good way to get a harmonious variety of colours, but i also think i need to be more careful with them in the future.

aileen

I have purchased pre-cuts, mostly jelly rolls, through e-bay and from www.jellyrollfabric.net I have also purchased from other online quilt shops. I, like others on this post, like the variety of fabrics included. I have made a jelly roll quilt from purples and lavenders. I really like the way it looks with the different fabrics. This one worked out very well. I hope the rest of the jelly rolls I purchased will be as straight and even as these were.

I know a few people who purchased here
2 weeks ago when they were $11.99
their prices are great.

I love the precuts and usually buy the charms or layer cakes. Have figured out the cost and find them to be about the same price as buying yardage. Tried the Joann's and Walmart precuts, found them to be not so accurate. Have not had that problem with other brands. JMHO

I have "boo-coodles" of 5'' charm squares, but I usually work with yardage. I don't know why I bought so many charm packs, but I do know that I love the variety in them.:p

Missouri Star Quilt Co has some great tutorials on making quilts using pre cuts. Gotta love Jenny Doan
1

I lover precuts. I use them all the time. I rarely have any issues with the Moda or koffmann precuts. I have only found 1 bad cut and I contacted moda and they sent me a new 10" suare right away.

I do both, just depending upon what I want for fabric. I wanted some fabric with a New Orleans/Mardi Gras/New Orleans Saints theme for a friend of mine. I could only find that in fabric. I made both of my sisters quilts and those were from charm packs and jelly rolls. I'm making my GS a quilt with baseball fabric. When I buy precuts it's usually from MSQC because I know they are reliable.

The last precut , charm pack , I got was called Great Scotts. I loved that line because our daughter has two sets of twins, two years apart. There is one boy. I love making them clothes to match. I makes the girls skirts and the boy a vest. It is very very hard to find fabric that will work for both sexes. I also like jelly rolls. I am using them in pillow cases as the little strip. That is working out very well.

I love the idea of pre cuts but when I've worked out how much fabric I'm getting and look at the price I just don't think most are value for money. I have an Accuquilt so can cut my own just as soon as I can find the time.

I am not a huge buyer of precuts. I do buy some. This year my instead of a presidents challenge for the year my guild is doing what we call precut university. So many in my guild said they never know what to do with pre cuts. We are doing one type of precut a month and presenting a project using it. I am presenting something using a jelly roll, hexagons, and another precut of my choice. I plan on doing the 3 Dudes free pattern with the jelly roll. I am going to do falling hexagons with the hexagons. Not sure about the other one yet. I have a jelly roll, I will probably cut my own of the other precuts to use up my stash.

I love precuts - my cutting skill are not good, my hand moves

I like pre-cuts because you get at least one of each fabric in a line. That way I can look at them all and decide what yardage I want to buy to go with them We don't have a really good quilt shop in my area so I shop online a lot and I can order just what I want and not be tempted by other fabrics in the shop.

Thanks CarolynMT for the break down.

I use a lot of precuts, but it is a matter of convenience. I usually buy them from MSQC when they are on a daily deal, particularly charm packs. Even if they are a little off in size, I can compensate pretty well. I like the variety of fabrics, and there are projects which require only a single charm pack. I like to piece them together. I guess that's weird, but hey: "Sometime I try to act normal, but it gets boring, so I just go back to being myself."

I've used a bunch of precuts and only had problems with one package of 5 inch squares...I since have bought a 5 inch square die for my AcuQuilt...that being said I still buy precuts, I just carry a tape measure in my purse and check them before I buy....I love, love, love jelly rolls!!