I have a pattern that calls for 7 yards of background fabric. I have a great piece that would work well, but it is only 3 yards, but 108" wide. Do I have enough? Should I buy a fabric calculator :lol:

Thanx smart friends,

Laurie

Your piece is 108 by 108. Unless your quilt is bigger than that it should work for you.

Your fabric is 108 x 108. Is your quilt any bigger than that? If not, you're fine (O:

You have plenty. You have a piece that is 3 yards by 3 yards. 9 Square feet will be more than enough.

It should be plenty. Regular width is 42 inches, 108 divided by 42 is 2.5 something which computes out to 2.5 x 3 which is 7 yards. Anyone else agree with me? Should even be extra.

We were all on this one, different ways of computing!!LOL.

How big is the finished quilt going to be? 3 yards of 108" fabric is a piece that is 108 by 108. Unless the quilt top is bigger than that you should be fine. Of course the top should be a few inches smaller than the backing for the quilting to be done.

Do you want to use it for backing, or cut up to piece the background of the top of your quilt? The pattern calls for 11088 square inches of fabric, and you have 11664 square inches. We would need to know how it's to be cut to be certain you have enough, if you're talking about a background color for the quilt top.

The quilt is the Judy Niemeyer pattern "Sabertooth Stars", and this fabric would be the background for the paper pieced stars. The overall quilt size is 76" x 90"

:D :D :D
Can't count how many times I've worked out the square inches of fabric checking for enough fabric!!

I'm not familiar with the pattern, so I still need more info. How many pieces of what size do you need to cut. I think it will probably be fine, but to do the actual math, I need more info. The size and shape of what you need to cut matters.

The pieces are all odd shapes - the spaces between the spikes of the stars. She provides templates to cut the pieces to eliminate fabric waste. Seven yards really seems like a lot of fabric to me, especially since I will need an additional 8 yards of colored fabric for the stars, lattice, borders and binding. 15 yards of fabric for one quilt which doesn't include backing!! Can that be right??

you should be fine, Judy always requires you to buy more yardage than you will use due to the cutting out quirks of some people. Because yours is wide fabric, you will get more out of it...have fun!
I have take a couple of classes with Judy and believe me, you can waste a ton of fabric...I save everything and managed to make a secondary quilt out of the left overs from doing the drunkards wave!

15 yards is definately possible, especially depending on the size and shape of the pieces to be cut, and the size of the quilt. I can't say for certain without seeing the pattern, but since they're all relatively small pieces, I think you should be fine. You have over 500 extra square inches, so I think you should be safe.

Whew! That makes me feel a lot better about tackling this project. I'M READY :thumbup:

3 yds of 108" wide fabric gives you a piece that is 108x108...how big is your quilt top? that's how to decide if you have enough. the backing needs to be a few inches larger all around than the top. so as long as you quilt top is no larger than about 98"x98" you have plenty...probably some to cut off after it's quilted to add to your stash

Guys, she's not talking about using it as backing. She needs to use it as the background for the blocks on the front of her quilt top. :)