ManiacQuilter2

My charity church group of quilters received some odd ball strips of batiks. I have this pattern called Regular Joe from the magazine Am. Patchwork & Quilting June 2014. The pattern is for sale on eBay......

http://www.ebay.com/itm/QUILT-PATTER...#ht_2700wt_886

My math problem is that the pattern requires 2.25 cut wide strips cut down into 7" length rectangles but most of my strips are 1.5" to 1.75" wide WOF. What length do I cut my narrower strips down to keep the proportion of the quilt intact? Tried going to the designer website but it was down for updates. No way I could send him a message. Any suggestions?? I want to start cutting the strips down during our Monday get together. THANKS !!

ckcowl

the length would still be the same 7"- the width of the strips is where your difference is going to be. you will have to cut some strips and add to strips you have to come up to the 2.25, or add an extra strip to the block- make it more scrappy- you could take your 1.5" strips, cut them at your 7", sew them together- line up the center seam with your ruler & trim to the right size- or, just make the blocks (strips wider than the pattern- or narrower)

Sisty88

I would divide 7 by 2.25 and then multiply by the width of the strips. So the 1.5 strips would need a length of 4.6 and the 1.75 strips would need a length of 5.4.
Not sure what the decimals would be when translated into inches, as i'm in the UK and am just getting to grips with inches rather than cm!
Hope this helps!

Jeanne S

i got got the same result. If you divide 7" by 2.25" you get a ratio of 3.11. So if you want to keep the same length x width ratio, your 1.5" strips should be 4.67" (round up to 4 3/4") long and your 1.75" strips would be cut to 5.44" long (I would round up to 5 1/2"). Of course you would likely need to add more rows to get the overall size you want.

LyndaOH

Sisty's figures are right, but I think this is one of those cases where you can go to the next even length - like 4 1/2" for the 1 1/2" strips, and the proportions will be close enough that it will look good. You'll just have to decide how many rectangles and columns you want to use to get the height and width quilt that you're looking for.

bearisgray

You could piece the strips you have together - and then cut the pieced strips together into 2.25 x 7 inch units .

If you sew two 1.5 strips together - you end up with a 2.5 inch strip - if you trim it down to 2.25 - you are losing very little. The extra seam might add some interesting texture.

(I THINK that's what ckcowl is suggesting?)

OR

Do you want to reduce the size of the components both lengthwise and crosswise?

Let's assume that you use your 1.5 inch strips for this.

Your finished width will be 4/7 of the pattern size. (1.5 - 0.5) / (2.25 - 0.5)
(1 inch instead of 1.75 inches)

So then one would take the same fraction and multiply the finished length by that fraction.

4/7 x 6.5 = 3.714 finished size

You will need to add 0.5 inch back to that for seam allowances which would be 4.214 inches.

Most of us don't have those marks on our rulers.

You could try experimenting with pieces cut 1.5 x 4.25 and see if you can get the look you want.

Are ALL the pieces cut 2.25 x 7 inches? 1.75 x 6.5 ends up being an uncommon ratio for a unit (7:26)

bearisgray

I think one needs to remove the seam allowances - then do the conversion - and then add the seam allowances back on to the pieces.

Sisty88

Ooh yes, I totally didn't think of that! Those pesky seam allowances!

ManiacQuilter2

First of all, thank you all for giving it your BEST !! I appreciate it. I think I will try the 5" cut because it will be easier for me. I am disable and can't seem to do math in my head anymore. You are right bearisgray, that there are some different measurement in the rectangles at the bottom, top and center. But if I have the length, then hopefully I can make the adjustment for those pieces. THANKS again all of you. I will be cutting these in our church workshop tomorrow.

nativetexan

Math is a bear isn't it? Hope you work it all out. Show us!