Precuts Explained

Hello again. Welcome to another new week. 

Last week Esther started a video series on Facebook about Panels and Precuts. 

The main things we spoke of last week were the various types of precuts and how they are priced. 

Moda was the first company to come out with precuts and they also have the trademark on the names that we normally use. 

The Charm Pack was the first one released. It came out as a Promotional Product. It was sent to quilt shops as a little taste of what was coming soon. The Charm Pack contains 42 -- 5" squares. One from each fabric in the designer collection, and than of prints to reach 42 if needed. 1 Charm Pack makes a nice table runner, or a small baby quilt. May also be called a 5" stacker.

The Jelly Roll is a super common precut, it contains 42 -- strips that are 2.5" wide and about 42 inches long (the full width of the fabric). One Jelly Roll makes a nice lap size quilt. Again it has one from each print in the collection and than doubles to get to the full 42. May alsobe called a 2.5" rollup.

A Layer Cake contains the same amount of fabric as a Jelly Roll, but is made up of 10" squares instead. Again there are 42 in each package. It too will make a nice lap size quilt. The Layer Cake is one of my favorite Precuts. The squares are big enough to see the bigger prints in the collection (sometimes in a jelly roll you miss this) and there is enough in the package to make a nice sized project. May also be called a 10" stacker.

Mini Charm Packs are so cute, they are 2.5" squares. I like to use these for wall hangings or table runners.

Fat Quarters are very popular. They are half meters of fabric cut in half parallel to the selvage. Now the US measures in yards, 1 yard is 36" so a half yard is 18" and the resulting fat quarter will be 18" wide and roughly 21" long. If you buy from our shop we measure in meters, and use 40" as 1 meter (not the usual 39") a half meter would be 20", ans so a fat quarter from our shop is 20" wide and roughly 21" long. 

Fat Quarters are bundled as 1 fabric from each collection, or are curated to contain a certain number of different prints. There is no doubling to reach 42, if the collection contains 25 prints that is how many will be in the bundle. Or you may buy a bundle of 10 Fat Quarters that we specifically chose prints for. 

6 fat quarters will give you a big baby quilt, while 30 will give you a queen quilt if you add a couple borders. They can also be purchased as singles. 

Those are the most common precuts. 

Honeybuns are just like the Jelly Rolls but use 1.5" strips instead. These kind of disappeared for awhile but they are making a comeback again!

One very common misconception about precuts is that they are expensive. In reality at our shop (I cannot speak for others) you will pay the same amount for a precut as you will for the equal amount of yardage. For example a Jelly Roll and a Layer Cake contain 2.7 meters of fabric total. Calculate that at $19.50 per meter which is what our Moda Fabrics are currently priced at and you get $52.65, our Jelly Rolls are mostly priced at $52.50.

For a fat quarter you are paying for .25 meters of fabric at the price on the top of the bolt. However many fat quarters are in the bundle will affect the total price. So if buying a single it will be between $4.50 and $5 depending on the price per meter of the fabric. A bundle of 25 would cost just over $120. 

At Chicken Feed we love precuts, they are a great way to get a little piece of each fabric in a full collection without breaking the bank. There are also so many different patterns written specifically with precuts in mind. Just pick you favorite, add some borders and sashing if you wish and you have a project ready to go. 

Tomorow in the video Esther will be talking more about our favorite patterns that are precut friendly. Tune in to our Facebook Page at 10:30am for that. I will do ablog post in the near future on that. And also one on Panels and patterns for them too. 

There will be no blog post this Thursday, as our little family is taking a break from work and spending some time together. 

Have a great week, 

Kayla

Please Note in the picture above all those Precuts are from my personal stash, and several of them are quite old, so they are no longer available in the shop, they are just ones that I have never been able to break open and actually use. 

Precuts

Precuts is a word we hear often in the quilting world, however do we all know which one is which?
At Chicken Feed Quilts we carry 5 of the most common precuts that are available.
First up Fat Quarters. A fat quarter will come in two sizes either 18"x21" or 20"x21". The difference between the two is where you buy them. In the United States they measure and sell fabric in yards, 1 yard is 36 inches and so when they cut a half yard it is equal to 18 inches. In Canada fabric is sold in meters and at Chicken Feed Quilts we use 40" as a meter, and so our fat quarters equal 20".
A fat quarter is a half meter of fabric cut in half parallel to the selvage edges. It is equal to .25meters but is more usable because rather than a 10"x42" rectangle you have a 20"x21" piece to work with.
Fat Qaurters come in a variety of different sized bundles. You can purchase one that has every piece in the collection, or they can be put together by the shop, or designer bundles. Bundles can be made using fabrics from a variety of colors, or one colorway, or a certain print, the options are endless.
Layer Cake, Jelly Roll, Charm Pack and Mini Charm Pack are all terms that have actually been trademarked by Moda Fabrics, but they are the most commonly used name for each precut. Other companies use the terms stackers and rollups.

Layer Cakes are made up of 42, 10" squares, there are a few companies that make theirs with 40 but it is marked on the packaging if this is the case. The total yardage in a layer cake is just over 2.6 meters. They are probably my favorite precut. You can do so much with them, and the pieces are big enough that the large prints show up well, where as in the smaller cuts, a lot of the large prints are lost. If the squares are sewn together patchwork style without any additional cutting the result is a good lap sized quilt, 57"x66". The back of the Moda packaging also contains ideas for how to use the Layer Cake and different ways to cut it up. I love making the Double Slice Layer Cake quilt, it is quick an fun and the end result is a great size.

The Jelly Roll is 42, 2.5" width of fabric strips. The total yardage is the same as a Layer Cake. And they are usually the same price, right around $50-$60 dollars. A Jelly Roll will also give you a lap sized quilt. The Jelly Roll Race is a fun quilt made with one Roll and goes together nice and quickly. Looking at the flat side of a roll will give you a good idea of the different colors that are in the package.

Charms Packs are made using 42, 5" squares. They are under $20 in price and sewn together will make a small baby quilt or wall hanging. I love the book Charm School by Vanessa from Lella Boutique is a book full of fun patterns written for 5" squares, we have a couple copies in store.

The Mini Charm is again made with 42 squares, this time 2.5" in sizes. These make really fun wall hangings, and table runners, although multiple packs can be put together to make a larger project. I find these fun to collect an have no intention of actually using them, they are just to cute to pass up.

The Layer Cake, Jelly Roll, Charm Pack and Mini Charms are generally made from a single Designer Collection, and if the line has less than 42 prints, which many of them do, there will be doubles of a number of prints in order to reach a total of 42 fabrics in the package.

When you love a full line of fabric buying one of these packages will give you at least one piece of each collection, and than you can purchase your favorites for the borders and binding and also the backing if you prefer cotton on the back of your quilts.

Moda Bakeshop is a great site dedicated to patterns written using the various types of precuts. Missouri Star Quilt Company is another that has many patterns written specifically for precuts and their block books each contain 10 patterns for a very good price of less than $8.00 per book.

Using precuts can make shopping easier and cuts back on the amount of cutting you need to do. They are great for beginners and advanced quilters alike and can be used to make very simple or very difficult quilts.
Do you have a favorite precut? Do you collect them and have a hard time using them?

On another note altogether, I would love to start doing one post each month dedicated to projects you have made with fabric from our shop. We love seeing what you have made, and it is inspiring for others as well. Send your photos to me by email at Kayla@chickenfeedquilts.com or through a private message on our Facebook Page. Please include  the pattern name and the name of the fabric if you remember it with your photo and I will feature a few projects every month on our blog and Facebook page. The projects can be quilts, wall hangings, bags clothes, anything really I just want to see them.

Kayla