My first online swap 18 yrs ago...got a very nasty note because I mailed skinny qtrs and not fat qtrs. So I dried my tears, bought new fabric, cut it properly and mailed it out. No one ever said a word about any of it...just the one pompous fabric policewoman.

Not really. A fat quarter is a length of fabric cut at 18" then cut in half at the fold making 2 FQ's. A quarter yard is 9" in length cut width to width. :D

Look on the bright side, you'll never get them mixed up again.

OK, I'm happy I made myself look like an idiot for a purpose - to educate other. :mrgreen: ha ha. SO, you actually get two fat quarters out of 1/4 yard, am I correct?

NO, you get two fat quarters out of a half yard. If you fold the half yard selvage to selvage and cut along the fold, you have 2 fat quarters. It's 18 x 22. It's still a quarter of a yard, just cut differently.

Oh boy. I better stop while I'm ahead. LOL. I'll just follow the directions and buy fat quarters next time! :shock:

hence the name "fat" quarter. yes, they are cut fatter than a regular 1/4 yard cut.
fat qtrs are usually 18x22 inches.
regular 1/4 cut is 9x44 (or width of fabric if not 44).
you can get more cuts for various block requirement from 18 inches than you can 9 inches.

I had an AHA moment when I was a new quilter, too. When I first saw that term, I thought...."fat what????" !!!

Well, take heart....there are alot of people out there that have had that moment of not knowing.....AND, there may even be more uncertainty about a fat 1/8th.
I always thought a fat 1/8th was 18X11...what do you all say?

I say that's too much math. I just call them scraps.