Beginner's Guide To Quilting - UK (2020-04)

Beginner’s Guide to Quilting 13

T

he measurements by which

fabric is sold can seem a bit

baffling when you first hit the

shops. Fat quarters, jelly rolls,

charms... it’s a strange way to talk

about lengths of material. They’re

actually very useful names, though,

as you can be sure you’ll be getting

squares or strips of fabric in very

specific sizes, designed especially

for quilting.

If you’re buying fabric off a roll

(or ‘bolt’) then you’ll usually buy it

by the yard (36in/91cm) or the metre

(100cm/39in). This is only the length of

the fabric you’re buying though – the

width depends on the width of the roll,

which can be a yard wide but is also often

44in (112.5cm) wide, or sometimes a little

longer than that. Check the information

Buying material for a quilt and not sure where to

start? Let us explain how to shop with confidence!

FABRIC

How to buy

1 yard

(36in)

9in

5in

5in

10in

10in

22in

9in

18in

Width of fabric (44in)

on the end of the cardboard tube around

which the fabric is wrapped or ask the

store to measure it for you so you can be

sure how much you’re buying.

If you’d like the convenience and

variety of ready-cut patchwork pieces, or

don’t need a whole yard of a particular

fabric, then you can also buy pre-cut

pieces. Take a look at our guide to the

most common fabric sizes below.

CHARM

A charm is a 5x5in (12.5x12.5cm) square,

and a charm pack usually contains

samples of 20 to 30 differently patterned

fabrics from a particular range.

MINI CHARM

Half the size of a charm, a mini charm is

a 2½x2½in (6.4x6.4cm) square. As with a

charm pack, a mini charm pack usually

contains 20-30 fabrics.

LAYER CAKE

Produced by fabric company Moda,

a layer cake is a bundle of 10x10in

fabric squares.

TURNOVER

Turnovers are 6in triangles that, when

sewn together, make 5x5in squares, so

they’re easy to use with charms.

FAT EIGHTH

Half of a ‘fat quarter’, this is a piece

of fabric measuring 9x18in.

FAT QUARTER

A quarter of a yard of fabric made by

cutting half a yard in half across the

length to give a piece of cloth that

measures 18x22in. This means you can

cut larger pieces than you would be able

to from a regular (or ‘long’) quarter.

LONG QUARTER

A quarter of a yard of fabric cut from the

end of a bolt, so it measures 9x44in.

JELLY ROLL

A bundle of 20 to 40 strips of fabric that

each measure 2½x44in. Jelly rolls were

originally produced by fabric company

Moda, but other companies also make

similar bundles with names such as

Bali Pops, Stone Strips and Roll Ups.

HONEY BUN

Like a skinny jelly roll, a honey bun is a

bundle of strips that are 1½in wide and

44in long.

DESSERT ROLL

Also known as a ‘fat roll’, this is a bundle

of 20 pre-cut fabric strips that are 5in

wide and as long as the width of the fabric

bolt (usually 44in).

FABRIC SIZES BREAKDOWN

Materials & Tools

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