Last week one of my students came to class with the most beautiful quilt, a little too small to be a double quilt and a little too big to be a twin.  It was a one block quilt and she used four different fabrics - one fabric and a background in each block.  She had a lot of leftover fabric.  It was one of those "Oh my Gosh - I love this fabric" purchases.  You know the kind.  You do not have a project in mind but you cannot leave the fabric in the store.

Although she had a lot a fabric left - we thought it might look a little busy if she continued adding the same blocks over and over.  They were 11 inches square and bright - so we strategized a bit on how she could make it bigger - even queen sized!

Many people might start by adding one border and then another until you lose the blocks in heavy borders.

Because we knew the size of the block - there was another option.  She could make an inner border (or two) that added up to 11 inches in total.  Once she did that - she could start putting another set of 11 inch blocks around the border.

Using the measurement of 11 inches would ensure that the next set of blocks that were also 11 inches each would meet the edge of the outer borders when adding a row to the top,

The snag in the ointment was the math to determine the size of the border(s).  It can be very confusing when you start adding 1/2 inch to each measurement and doing the math to make sure everything will fit.

So here's the trick.  Work from the finished size and once you have all those measurements in place add 1/2 inch to the length and width to any block that will be joined to another.

Have you ever wondered why we buy fabric in meters and the measure in inches? 

Most of us remember in the 1970’s that we as Canadians adopted the metric system as our means of measuring things.  However our patterns, cookbooks and scales still show imperial measurements!

It’s really not so confusing if you remember that a meter is larger than a yard.  But what happens when you read a pattern and it calls for 1 ⅜ yards of fabric?  That's where the math begins.  

The easiest way to convert inches to meters or partial meters is to multiply your inch measurement by .025. (it is actually .0254 - but we generally do not need to go to the 3rd decimal spot on the measurements we use in quilting.) 

Example: 10 inches x .025 = .25m  .025 is your magic number!  (trust me - it works)

So…. 36 inches ( 1 yard ) is actually .9 meters!   So whatever you do - if you need a yard - do not buy a meter or your stash will continue to grow and grow and grow!

Working in a quilting store gave me the insight to realize not everyone understands the imperial to metric (and back again) conversions.  I cannot tell you how many people lined up just to ask me questions like how much fabric they might need if they were adding a 3 1/2 inch border to a quilt that was 80" x 80".  If they got to the number of inches they needed - they still could not make the final leap to determine how many meters (or partial meters) to purchase.

Batting and backing posed other dilemmas.  How much do I need if I use 45 inch quilting fabric?  Is it the same if I use wide back?  My quilt is 100 inches square - can I use 96 inch batting?

The answers may seem easy on the surface - but often there are multiple formulas we use to get to the amount of fabric we need to purchase.  And then we buy extra - so we have enough.  Buying extra quilting fabric can become very costly - especially when the fabric costs $20 a meter or more!

This is what I wrote the book - Measuring Success.  It has all the formulas you need along with easy to use charts.  You may want to check it out here. 

In the meantime I am giving you a chart below that is in the book to help you get started with the measuring madness!