Quilt Coat Fabric Requirements- "Party all Over"

So you've decided to make "Party all over" quilt coat- go you!  This is such a fun one to make and the extra time needed is absolutely worth it!  So after you've chose which quilt pattern to use, now you need to figure out how much fabric you need. So let's get started!

So we have a few "sub" options with this quilt coat option:

1. Use an existing quilt (whether it be one that you have made or a vintage quilt that you have picked up that you want to give more life to. If this is the case, you can obviously disregard this section, however if you want to figure out if it is big enough, check out the tips in the "All Business Quilt Coat" Fabric Requiremetns

2. Use a pattern: In this case, you can just follow the relevant fabric requirements listed in the pattern- however to make sure you are making a large enough quilt, you may want to check out the tips in the "All Business Quilt Coat" Fabric Requirements. 

The easiest patterns to convert are probably those that are block based as you can sew the blocks together in different arrangements- for example, if you have 20 blocks that would usually go in a 4 x 5 arrangement, you may be able to put them in a 3 x 6 arrangement (with a couple of spares, maybe for the pockets or hood or even a sleeve) to better fit the pattern pieces. 

I used Penelope Handmade's Ebb and Flow Quilt to make mine and added some extra row to the side to be able to fit the pattern pieces. This was a really tight fit though for a quite fitted coat so i'd recommend sizing up your Ebb and Flow Quilt if you chose to make this one! 

3. Using half square triangles or squares/ rectangles. 

I have included two options for fabric requirements here: One which is a general guide, as well as instructions if you want to be more precise with how much fabric you need. 

• Option 1: General guidelines:

• • Rectangles/ Squares: approximately 18-25 fat quarters
  • Half Square triangles or flying geese:
    • • ~ 30-40 fat quarters; or
      • ~15-20 fat quarters + ~3 yards fabric (this option means your HSTs have one consistent colour)
      • PLUS: 3-5 yards "lining fabric" (quilt backing)
      • PLUS: 0.5- 0.75 yards in a contrasting binding - 
      • A note about binding: you can make your own with the existing/ matching fabric  OR Bessie Pearl Textiles makes absolutely STUNNING bias binding which you could use as a feature binding- and you can use the code quiltcoat to het 15% off all full price bias tape and quilt binding here.

• Option 2: More specific fabric guidelines 
• First calculate how many HSTs or Squares you need. These calculations assume that your finished squares/ HSTs are 3” (eg 3.5” before sewn in)
• Let's take this pattern example again and assuming we are making a size 14 quilt coat

Tip: If you haven't received your pattern yet, you can google the pattern number and you should be able to find a photo with the fabric requirements listed. 

• If we use the fabric requirements above, we need a quilt that is 60” wide by 2 7/8 yards (103.5”- rounded up to 104") (or 40" wide by 3.5 yards (126")

• So 60” across :
  • 60/3” (the finished size of the HST) = 20 HSTs or squares across
  • 104/3” (the finished size of the HST)= 34.67 (round up to 35” down)
  • So to determine how many HSTs or squares we need in total, take the number of columns (20) and multiply it by the number of rows (35):
    • 20 x 35 = 700 HSTs or squares total

Confused? Here is a diagram to help :-)

Or if 700 squares HSTs or squares is too many, you want to use finished 4” squares or HSTs (eg 4.5” before sewn in). So we can do similar maths:

• • 60/ 4 = 15 across
  • 104/ 4= 26 down
  • 15 x 26 = 390 HSTs or squares

Now to determine the number of FQ:

SQUARES

So using the example above:

3” squares you would need 700 (3.5” squares)/30 (how many 3.5” squares you can fit in each fat quarter = 23 fat quarters

4” squares you would need 390/20 = 19.5 fat quarters

 HSTS (Assuming two at a time method)

 * This assumes two fat quarters will make twice the number of HSTs 

So using the example above:

3” HSTs you would need 700 (3.5” squares)/20 (how many 3.5” HSTs you can make from each fat quarter = 35 fat quarters

4” squares you would need 390/12 = 32.5 fat quarters

If you want to use one fabric to make up half of each of your HSTs, you divide the number of fat quarters in half and then convert that to fat quarters- 

So for instance, for 3" HSTS, 35/2 = 18 fat quarters

18 fat quarters converted into yards is approximately 3.5 yards which will give you a little extra as you can utilise the entire piece of fabric. 

So you would need 18 fat quarters + 3.5 yards of one solid colour (instead of 35 fat quarters) 

• PLUS: 3-5 yards "lining fabric" (quilt backing)
• PLUS: 0.5- 0.75 yards in a contrasting binding - 
• A note about binding: you can make your own with the existing/ matching fabric  OR Bessie Pearl Textiles makes absolutely STUNNING bias binding which you could use as a feature binding- and you can use the code quiltcoat to het 15% off all full price bias tape and quilt binding here.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all or would like me to make you a custom bundle for your quilt coat!