Quilt Making - from start to finish

First, you need to know how big to make the quilt. For example, a crib quilt might be in the neighborhood of 50 x 60 inches, whereas a queen size quilt would be more like 94 x 108 inches. You can figure this out by measuring the mattress and allowing for the length of overhang you want (on both sides, and the bottom, and enough to cover the pillows if desired on the top).  Or, you can find a chart that tells you standard quilt sizes.  

 Then, you need to know how many quilt blocks you will need in order to make a quilt that size--which means you will first need to know the size of each block. You will also need to make a design decision and decide whether there will be any latticing (the strips between the blocks on some quilts), and if so, how many strips are needed (horizontally and vertically) and how wide do they need to be to fit with the block size and result in the proper size for the quilt?

 Let's say I want a 50 x 60 inch crib quilt, and I have 10 inch blocks (just to be easy--it can get downright messy if you have odd measurements). That would mean I need 5 rows of 6 ten inch quilt blocks. UNLESS I want lattice. In that case, you might want to have four rows of three blocks. This would leave you 20 inches in each dimension to divide into lattice strips. You will need 4 vertical lattices, and 5 horizontal ones (between each row, and on the outside edges as a border). You could make the 5 horizontal lattices 4" each, and the 4 vertical ones 5" each, or you could make all the interior strips the same width, say 4", which would come out even on the horizontal lattices, but you'd need to add 2" each to the outside borders on the top and bottom to get the 20 inches you need to make the quilt the right length. (4 x 4= 16, 20-16=4, 4/2=2) (This is easier to grasp if you draw it out. And of course, you could have kids write it out as an algebraic equation too.) [Note: you can either decide on the quilt size first and divide that dimension into lattice and blocks to find the block size, or you can decide on the block size first, and then figure out how many squares and how much lattice it'll take to hit in the ballpark of the quilt size you're aiming at. Either way, doesn't matter.]

Ok, so now you know how big your squares are, and how many of them you need. You also need to know what the design of each block will be. There are books of quilt block designs, or you can get out graph paper and make your own. Will it be assymetrical or symmetrical? How many colors do you want to use? Keep in mind if you place two pieces of the same color together, they merge visually (you can use this to your advantage to make complex shapes by piecing them together, but it can also sneak up on you and ruin your design if you're not paying attention), so keep in mind how the pattern will look with different colors next to each other. If you make your own pattern, it's a good idea to keep in mind that you will have to cut these pieces out later on, and keep your shapes as close to standard measurements as you can. It is technically possible to cut a shape that's 3 6/19ths inches by 1 8/21th inches, but I don't recommend trying, as that's really hard to measure with a standard ruler.

Once you have decided on a design, you need to figure out how much fabric you will need in order to make the right number of pieces to assemble into the correct number of blocks, without too much waste. Each color on the design will come from a different piece of fabric, and will need to be figured separately. One thing to keep in mind is that the orientation of the pieces on the fabric matters, as you need to align them with the weave of the fabric in order to prevent odd warping of the quilt, so you will need to figure out the most efficient way to place the shapes, oriented properly on the fabric, and then use that info to figure out how many inches of fabric you will need. Fabric is generally sold in widths of 45 or 60 inches, but you need to allow a little extra space at the edges because the fabric print doesn't always go clear to the edge, and a "45 inch" piece of fabric is sometimes only 44.25 inches (or some other odd measurement) wide due to manufacturing processes and whatnot. So make allowances. And speaking of allowances, when you sew the pieces together into a quilt, you don't do it by gluing one cut edge of fabric to another. You lay the two pieces together, and sew a little way in from the edge, and then open them out. A little fabric remains in the seam (called a "seam allowance"). That means that when you're figuring how much fabric you will need, you need to add about 1/4 inch all the way around each little piece in the pattern. If you want a 2 inch square in your finished block, you need to cut it out as a 2 1/2 inch square. So that's something to keep in mind when figuring square inches. If you forget the seam allowances, you won't have enough fabric, the pieces won't join up properly, and if you should happen to be able to assemble the block anyway, it won't be the right size.

Fabric is sold in fractions of yards, so that's something to keep in mind while you're figuring too. You won't be buying 4 feet, six inches of fabric, you'll be buying 1 1/2 yards. And decimals are completely out. Lol.

You could also throw in figuring out how much it'll cost. If you need "b" yards of blue fabric at $3.28 per yard, "g" yards of green at $4.36 per yard, and "w" yards of white at $2.99 per yard, how much will you spend? (And that doesn't even include the batting and backing fabric.)