Shopping for fabric may be the most exciting part of the quilting process – but while in the fabric shop, you’ll find rows and rows of fabric bolts as well as a selection of pre-cut packs of various fabrics with labels like fat quarter, jelly roll, or charm pack.
If you’re not sure what size or cut of fabric you need, don’t worry! I’ve put together a guide to quilting fabric cuts and how to use them. Next time you head to the fabric store, you’ll know exactly what a jelly roll is!
Yardage
Buying yardage simply means that you’re buying fabric “by the yard.” At any fabric shop, you’ll find a large selection of fabric bolts – but you don’t have to buy the whole bolt! These are meant to be purchased by the yard. Simply take the bolt to the cutting counter and ask for the number of yards (or the fraction of a yard) that you need.
Typically, yardage is purchased in ¼ yard increments. For example, if you need just over a yard, you can ask for 1 ¼ yard of fabric. Note that the width of fabric can vary. Quilting cottons are usually between 41 and 45 inches wide.
Many quilters like purchasing yardage of different fabrics for their projects. Buying fabric this way is usually a bit cheaper in the long run than buying pre-cuts. In addition, pre-cuts are sometimes not cut as precisely as you would be able to cut the fabric yourself.
The downside to purchasing yardage is that you’ve got a lot more decisions to make! You’ll have to determine which fabrics you want to pair together and how much of each to get. You’ll also end up with more fabric scraps when using yardage, since you’ll have to cut your pieces yourself.
Quilting fabric pre-cuts
Pre-cuts are a fun and easy way of getting fabric for your quilting projects. Many quilting fabric manufacturers, especially higher-end ones, release themed and coordinating fabric collections. In addition to providing each individual fabric in the collection for purchase as yardage, they often combine pre-cut pieces of their collection into bundles.
These bundles of pre-cuts can come in many different sizes, each with a fun name. How many pieces of each color of fabric is included in a fabric pre-cut bundle will depend on the manufacturer.
Using pre-cuts can make the quilting process faster because you don’t have to cut all your quilt pieces yourself. You can also avoid some of the decision making of buying yardage, which is especially great for beginner quilters or those who are not confident in their color-matching skills.
Also, purchasing pre-cuts is fun! These color-coordinated packs of fabric are super pretty and look great decorating your sewing space!
Let’s dive into the most common types of pre-cuts and when to use them.
Fat quarter
Size: 18” x 22” (exact size depends on the width of the fabric)
Fat quarters are the most common pre-cut on the market. They are ¼ yard pieces of fabric that have been cut into wide rectangles, rather than the narrow strip of fabric you’d get if you purchased ¼ yard as yardage.
Most quilting fabric shops will have a great selection of fat quarter bundles, which usually contain at least 1 of each print from a collection.
Fat quarters are large enough pieces of fabric to be a very useful starting point for full-size quilts.
Fat eighth
Size: 9” x 22” (exact size depends on the width of the fabric)
A fat eighth is similar to a fat quarter, except that it is ⅛ yard of fabric rather than ¼ yard. Similarly, a fat eighth is cut wider than the typical narrow strip of fabric you’d get if purchasing ⅛ yard as yardage.
Fat eighth bundles are great for smaller quilting projects that require less fabric. They are also great for adding smaller pieces of different accent fabrics to larger quilts.
Charm pack
Size: 5” x 5”
Charm packs include 5-inch squares of various coordinating fabrics. The number of squares included and the number of pieces of each print depend on the specific manufacturer.
5-inch squares are very common in quilting patterns, which makes charm packs very useful for a variety of quilting projects.
Mini charm pack
Size: 2.5” x 2.5”
Mini charm packs are exactly what they sound like – bundles of square pieces of fabric that are smaller than a typical charm pack.
These 2.5-inch squares are useful for baby quilts and other small quilting projects. Mini charm packs are also a great way to collect all the fabric from collections that you love. This gives you an easy way to choose fabrics that you want to purchase yardage of later.
Layer cake
Size: 10” x 10”
A layer cake is the opposite of a mini charm pack – it’s a larger version of the standard charm pack, including big 10-inch squares.
The large size of the squares included in a layer cake make it useful for a wide variety of applications, such as different sizes of square pieces, triangles, strips, or even circles. A layer cake is a very useful bundle for full-size quilts!
Jelly roll
Size: 2.5” x 42” (exact length will depend on the width of the fabric)
Jelly rolls are one of the odder-looking pre-cuts. They are bundles of long, narrow strips of coordinating fabrics.
Jelly rolls are great for making bindings or for narrow pieces in quilts. There are even quite a few full-sized quilt patterns specifically made to use jelly rolls.
Honey bun
Size: 1.5” x 42” (exact length will depend on the width of the fabric)
Honey buns are similar to jelly rolls, except the strips of fabric are 1 inch narrower. Honey buns also make for great bindings and are perfect for strip piecing.
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