Choosing a High-Quality Cotton Fabric for a Quilt
First, you only want to purchase quilting weight 100% cotton fabric.
Do not purchase blends or polyester. Be sure to check your labels and only get 100% cotton fabric for a quilt.
Now, you can certainly get cheaper fabric at places like Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby, but friends, I really don’t recommend it.
While you may pay half the price per yard, your quilt will likely begin to fade or pill before a high-quality fabric will.
The thread counts are lower, and the fabric begins to lose its shape faster. If you are going to take the time to make a lovely quilt – you want it to be lovely for a very long time.
Consider visiting a local quilt shop to select fabric. You will be able to feel the difference.
Look for brands like Moda, RJT, Cotton + Steel, Art Gallery, and Free Spirit. There are others, but these are my favorites because I love their designers.
Happy fabric equals a happy quilt.
How to Purchase Fabric for a Quilt
Purchasing fabric for the first time can be intimidating. The pattern may tell you that “yardage” is required, or it might tell you to purchase fat quarters, Jelly Rolls, or Layer Cakes. What? A Layer Cake? Yes. Let’s look at the diverse ways that fabric is sold these days.
Yardage: When a pattern tells you to purchase a specific among of yardage it will read like: Red – 2.5 yards or Blue - .25 yard (1/4 yard). Fabric yardage is usually sold in quarter yards. A yard is 36” and a quarter yard is 9”. Half a yard is 18” and ¾ yard is 27” long. Yardage comes on a “bolt.” It usually measures 42” to 44” wide. It is folded in half with the wrong sides together and rolled up on a bolt. By rolling the right sides together, it allows you to see the right side or the printed (pretty) side of the fabric. The two edges of the fabric, where they come together on the bolt are called the selvage. On the selvage, you will find the name of the company, designer, and fabric line or collection.
After you bring your fabric home, if you open it up, it will measure the 42” to 44” wide. This is referred to as the Width of Fabric or WOF may be printed in a pattern.
Selvage: The natural edge of the fabric usually has little dots on one side where it is held onto the printing machine and a label on the other with manufacturer and designer names.
Width of Fabric (WOF): The WOF usually measures 42”/44” from selvage to selvage depending on the manufacturer.
Precuts: Precuts are a way to purchase fabric that is, as the name suggests, pre-cut to a specific size. Most precuts include one or more of each of the fabrics in a collection by a single designer. Lots of patterns are written for precuts and this will be indicated on the pattern. A number of Jittery Wings patterns are written to be Fat Quarter friendly as an example. The different types of precuts include:
Fat Quarters (FQ): A quarter of a yard of fabric which usually measures 18” to 22” depending on the manufacturer of the fabric. Fat quarters may be sold individually or as a bundle from a full collection of fabric by a single designer. They may also be sold as curated bundles from a Quilt Shop online or in a physical location.
Fat 8ths: Like a Fat Quarter, the Fat 8th is when a yard of fabric is cut into 8ths. These are sold individually and in bundles. A Fat 8th measures 9” x 21” usually.
Half Yard Bundle: You can also buy pre-cut bundles of half yards of a full line of fabric. I will often do this for fabric lines I really like and worry the fabric won’t be around forever.
Jelly Rolls: A Jelly Roll is an actual roll of 2.5” x WOF strips from a single line of fabric by a designer. The edges are pinked to help prevent fraying.
Honey Buns: Like a Jelly Roll, except it measures 1.5” x WOF.
Jolly Bar: These precuts measure 5” x 10” and usually include a full line or most of a line by a single designer. The edges are pinked to help prevent fraying.
Mini Charm Pack: This includes a tiny 2.5” x 2.5” square for each fabric in a line. The edges are pinked to help prevent fraying.
Charm Pack: This includes a 5” x 5” square for each fabric in a line. The edges are pinked to help prevent fraying.
Layer Cake: This includes a 10” x 10” square for each fabric in a line. The edges are pinked to help prevent fraying.
