Fabric For Quilting - What You Need To Know

Before you can begin you’re obviously going to want fabric for your quilting project. You’re going to want 100% good quality cotton. The lesser quality fabrics may shred or fade and this is something you don’t want, because you’re doing this quilt with so much love for somebody or you may just hang it on your wall. So you want it to last.

Fabric comes in a variety of sizes. It’s often presented as Precuts.

Some Types of Precuts

Fat Quarters

It comes very often as fat quarters. What a fat quarter is is basically almost a square of fabric. It’s half a half yard of material, so if you had a half yard of fabric it’s cut in half.

Sometimes you’ll be lucky enough to buy a fat quarter pack that’s all coordinated.

And there’s something called a thin quarter which is a quarter of a yard.

Jelly Rolls

The term ‘jelly roll’ was coined and trademarked by Moda Fabrics, but it is now used by many fabric manufacturers to describe a collection of pre-cut quilting fabrics. These fabrics are typically cut into 2 ½ inch wide strips that are the width of the fabric (usually 42 inches). The number of fabrics in a jelly roll can vary, but it is often a set of 20 different colors, with two strips of each color included.

https://www.fatquartershop.com/jelly-rolls

Layer Cakes

A layer cake consists of 40 or 42 squares of fabric from a particular fabric line, each measuring 10 inches. Using a larger piece of fabric allows for greater design possibilities compared to using strips of fabric only.

Charm Packs

A charm pack is a collection of pre-cut fabrics that typically measure 5 inches by 5 inches. It is a convenient way to get a selection of all the prints in a fabric line or collection

Honey Buns

In quilting, a honey bun is a group of precut fabric strips that are 1.5 inches wide and come in a range of solid colors. These strips are often used for quilt sashing and strip quilting.

If you’re looking to work with fabric strips, there are a number of convenient options for purchasing pre-cut fabric in set sizes. This can save you the time and effort of cutting the fabric yourself. Plus, there are templates available that are tailored to these specific sizes, making it even easier to get started on your project.

Fabric by Yardage

Linda Hahn on CreativiU’s Masterclass “Quilting 101: Building Blocks”/ shows fabric for quilting

Or you could just buy yardage.

The yard is 36 inches long and 40 to 42 inches wide (when you unfold its width)

Fabric Yardage Calculator

Most people are probably going to have yardage at some point in time and whether you’ve got yardage, meterage, call it what you will, or whether you have fat quarters, you’re going to need to cut it.

💐🌷7 Mistakes To Avoid When Choosing Fabric for Your Quilt by Just Get it Done Quilts

What You Need to Know About Quilting Fabric by The Fabric Patch