Softblocklady, I've wondered he same thing. So many of the quilts that look interesting to me are way too small to be useful. I make mostly baby quilts around 45 x 54", and queen size to king size (90 - 120" x 100-120"). Even for a child, I would make a quilt about double bed size. I did one wall hanging to learn paper piecing. I've seen a few others that might be worth doing as a wall hanging, or they could be done as a center medallion on a larger quilt.

I think I've only bought one or two patterns that did not have multiple sizes within the directions. I also have EQ so on the odd occasion that I design my own quilt, it truly is only a matter of adding blocks either across/down/both to get to the size I need.

I used to wonder that, too, but no more. Now all my quilts come from someplace in my brain that I didn't know I had before taking up quilting. Of course, that happened because I sometimes have trouble following directions!

I did finally buy EQ7 so that i could test my ideas on the screen without actually committing to make a quilt.

[QUOTE=charsuewilson;6964977]Softblocklady, I've wondered he same thing. So many of the quilts that look interesting to me are way too small to be useful. I make mostly baby quilts around 45 x 54", and queen size to king size (90
Hi Sue.............glad its not just me. Adding a border sometimes just does not cut it. They are way to small to start with. I'm hoping the one I just recalculated won't change too much in the effect that the original one gives you. Some designs are probably not meant to be tampered with.

Our brains must visit the same places when they go on vacation. I refuse to buy more tools. Quilting in Canada requires going back to work or having a VERY understanding husband. I am finding that designing is as much fun as piecing. Know if I could only learn the rest of the stuff, I'd be a happy camper............softblocklady

I am useless at following patterns so I don't even bother with the sizes. If I see one I like, I do rough calculations such as deciding on my finished size and dividing this up by the number of blocks I want then calculating the size of the smaller pieces which make up each block. The patterns are quite basic too as I think doing this with a complicated pattern would be a nightmare. I also only do a rough calculation on the yardage and buy more if needed. A dangerous game, I know :D But I like 'living on the edge' :D

People like and use quilts differently. Some use quilts as bedspreads, some use them to snuggle with and a large quilt in that case is heavy and unweildly. I fall into the snuggle category and find smaller quilts very useful. I made a twin size quilt for my mother-in-law and she wanted to use it for a bedspread and it didn't come all the way to the floor so she was not happy with it. She has passed away and I now have the quilt back and for me it is too big and heavy to use to snuggle with. Point it, different strokes for different folks. A smaller quilt it not unusable and many people desire them.

I never use a pattern for a quilt so I can't speak to sizes in patterns getting smaller however there is generally a way to make a quilt any size that you want it by adding or using fewer blocks, the size and number of borders and such. The closest I have ever come to using a pattern is what I use for my avatar. The pattern for that (which was a free download) was for a wall hanging. I just added more blocks and a border to make it into a quilt.

I don't think I've ever made a quilt to size. I am always adjusting and lengthening the patterns. I like lap size 48 - 54 x 72 so it's rare to find a pattern to fit that. I look to patterns that can have an extra row on the length and one less row on the side. It does seem like there are alot of square patterns.

I think the pattern also depends on the purpose of the quilt. Is it to just cover the top of the bed as a pretty extra cover, or is it going to be an entire bedspread? Recently, it seems that people are making quilts as bedspreads and not just as a topper cover.

I am guilty of this. I make queen-sized quilts with overhangs and 10" tucks for the pillows because that's how my family wants to use the ones I make for them. So that requires a lot of extra blocks.

I find that square patterns or medallion patterns are hard to add on to in order to make them rectangles for queen-size quilts.

If you don't have EQ, purchase a viewfinder. This will enable you to get an idea of what the larger sized quilt will look like. It multiplies the blocks, not the size, so you can see what a multitude of blocks would look like.