HOW DO I?

Figure yardage for designs that include motif fabrics. Example made from an old tablecloth!

Motifs present a unique challenge to quilt design and planning.

Perhaps you are working with one of the many children's fabrics that have motifs or squares in the fabric. To work with these fabrics, you start by creating a quilt block from the motif at its specific size. For example, a fabric with an alphabet block ha cut measurements of say 6.5" inches would be used as part of a quilt design that included that 6.5" motif along with additional fabrics.

Another source of motifs are vintage fabrics. Many can be reimagined and deconstructed into motifs or squares. Shown is just such a quilt. The red flowers are from a vintage tablecloth.

​The process is straightforward. QuiltSandwich app's Yardage Calculator will help you stay organized by keeping track of fabrics and prepare fabric by calculating yardage with cutting diagrams you can review before you pick up your ruler and rotary cutter.

• Basically you’ll start by designing a block that includes the motif and then plan out how the blocks will be arranged on the quilt top (You may find it easiest to use graph paper. If you haven't already found it, take a look at the QuiltPaper app — it makes it so much easier to draft a layout! 
• Once you have the design, you can identify the different pieces. 
• Then for each piece, input finished sizes and number into QuiltSandwich app's Yardage Calculator and it will calculate the yardage needed! 

If you prefer to work with cut sizes, set the Yardage Calculator's seam allowance to zero to adjust the yardage calculation.

1

Draw out block design

This example will use a modern fabric for the motif. A popular modern design block for a motif is a floating center square.

The first step is to draw out the block design on graph paper. Graph paper will make this process easier because you’ll be able to see exactly how all the pieces all fit together and easily count up exactly how many are needed. Of course, quarter-inch printed graph paper should be workable, however, you might find it fun to get the QuiltPaper app and use your iPhone or iPad to create, color and print your design.

2

Assign each square a value

 
For this example, let’s create 14” blocks. Assign each square a value of 1", making the block 14 squares by 14 squares. Because the QuiltSandwich app defaults to using finished sizes you can work continue to work directly from your block design... no further adjustments are need ed! ​(If you prefer to work with cut sizes or have a few pieces in cut sizes, just set one option in the calculator to adjust the yardage calculation.)

3

Draw up the quilt design

Sketch out the entire quilt before calculating yardage to clearly see how the design fits together  and to make it easier to count the total number of pieces needed.

Mattress, Pillow and Batting Sizes in Notions in the QuiltSandwich app lists standard mattress sizes. A good resource to help figure out how many blocks, sashing and the border width(s) to make the quilt at the size you want is the QuiltSize app.

4

Calculate yardage

Follow these steps to calculate yardage:

1. Identify the individual pieces in the block. In this example there are 8 unique pieces, labeled A - H.
2. Count how many are in the block:
   A   1 — center square for the motif
   B   2 — background color
   C   1 — light color
   D   1 — light color
   E   1 — dark color
   ​F   1 — dark color
   G  2 — background color
   ​H  2 — background color
3. Multiply the count for each piece by the total number of blocks:  
   A   1 x 9 =   9
   B   2 x 9 = 18
   C   1 x 9 =   9
   D   1 x 9 =   9
   E   1 x 9 =   9
   ​F   1 x 9 =   9
   G  2 x 9 = 18
   ​H  2 x 9 = 18
4. For each piece input the number needed with its finished size into the Yardage Calculator.

Here is the yardage calculation and cutting diagram for piece 'B':

5

Assign fabrics

Adding the pieces to the Yardage Calculator puts all the planning tools in place:

• cutting diagram for each piece
• Quilt Planner started
• a complete list of pieces ready for fabric assignment, whether from your stash or purchases
• room to add quilt sandwich pieces to the project list — border, batting, backing
• up-to-date Shopping List​