OH, the MATH of it all!

It’s not the first time I have been asked to duplicate or re-create a pattern - but two weeks ago a long time friend turned quilter asked me if I knew where to get a pattern like a picture that she sent to me. 

It looked like a pretty simple style quilt and was advertised as such.  But the only place you could buy this quilt was in Japan!  And no - there was no pattern. (I have linked the photo to the actual sales page)

The identical pattern was not to be found - although I didn't look very hard because I knew I could write the pattern.  Sounds simple right?  Well not so much….

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What size did she want the quilt? What size were the blocks? (This is important for perspective!)  How many did we need?  Is there sashing between the blocks? (there was) What size was the sashing?  How many fabrics are in the quilt?  How much fabric do we need? How much will all this cost? 

Oh the math of it all!

Add to this - although it is a one block quilt - there are two versions of the block and although they look easy - the confusing part is getting the placement of the colours right!

Figuring this all out can seem like a daunting task.  Drawing the blocks is easy - it’s all the measurements that can become confusing!  I can tell you how to figure this out - but you better have your calculator, a scrap sheet for notes and a final sheet for final numbers!

​If you take a look at the quilt in the picture, it is actually a lap sized quilt.  Knowing that the quilt is 56 x 72 inches and that there are 4 blocks across, it’s pretty easy to see that the blocks might be 12 inches finished.  Because the blocks appear to be floating, (they do not touch each other) I assume that there is a 2 inch finished sashing between the blocks.  This brings the quilt to 58 inches…. pretty close!  So let’s go with that!

​Then came the questions…. (mine). Were the blocks too big?  Should I make them 10 inches instead of 12?  So the experimentation began!

If I made the blocks 10 inches and used a 3 inch sashing - this brought the quilt to exactly 56 inches wide with the binding. AHA!  This is the exact size of the quilt in the photo!

The next question was - “If this size is used to make a King sized quilt - will it look too busy - too many blocks?” 
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​The answer after re-drawing it was yes - so back to the 12 inch blocks.  Because she wanted a king size quilt, so I drew it out to be 100” x 100”. 

​We did finally decide on a 12 inch block with a 3 inch sashing and a 6 inch border. This was a strategic decision for fabric usage as well because the corner blocks we needed to cut were the same width as the sashing - so this makes cutting faster and makes better use of the fabric.

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I’ll stop there - it would be faster for you to buy the pattern once I offer it for sale!

That being said - you can make these calculations much more quickly if you use my book.  (yes, I had to go there!)  In it I cover a lot of the measurements you will need to make these calculations as well as some ideas on how to make things bigger. (or smaller)

Pattern drafting can be a complicated matter.  Then once the pattern is drafted - you need to figure out the most efficient use of fabric and how to best cut it. And finally you need to decide if there are some quick methods you can use for piecing that cuts down on the time for piecing.  Especially when you are making a king sized quilt with 36 blocks!

These are all considerations going into the patterns I create.  And I am sure to use quick finish methods with many, many diagrams in each pattern making them easy to read.

If you need a pattern created - I can do that for you - or help you with the math if you choose to make it yourself.  Or you can also choose from the patterns I have already created.  You can find them here.

In the meantime - happy pattern hunting…or pattern drafting.....it can be the start of a new adventure!