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What does fat quarter mean?

6 September 2024 by Danielle Leave a Comment

Thread Den suggests a fat quarter as the fabric requirement for the week 1 workshop in our Sewing Basics for Beginners Course. So, what is that and what does that mean?

A fat quarter is a pre-cut piece of fabric especially popular with quilters. It is an economical way to purchase small fabric requirements that have become standardised. Most fabric stores that cater to quilters will have a wide range of fat quarters available either in bundles of complementary colours and designs or sold individually.

A fat quarter is usually:

  • 50cm x 50cm square (approximately)
  • 100% cotton plain weave fabric
  • Cut on the straight grain and including the selvedge on one side of the square

A fat quarter is cut by; first cutting half a metre of quilting fabric off the bolt (producing a rectangle), then cutting that directly in half (achieving a square).

The size of the square produced is not exact because:

  • In the USA the first cut is half a yard (45cm) not half a metre (50cm)
  • The width of a bolt of fabric varies
How to cut a fat quarter of quilting fabric diagram

Image from The Fabric Fox UK.

Filed Under: Sewing Tips

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