The Quilters Reference Tool for FAQ

Click To Get Your hands On The Quilters Reference Book

Quilters Reference Tool Rating: 

Price: $10.36 (List price $16.95)

Author: Harriet Hargrave & Alex Anderson

Where to Purchase:Amazon.com

Where to Purchase: Amazon.com

There are many quilt products out there. But the small All-in-One Quilters Reference tool is a great book to have at your finger tips.

Its only purpose may be to confirm what you think is the right thing to do but still worth having for all those days when your brain doesn't seem to work.

It is imperative that you have a general idea of just exactly how to solve a problem mathematically before relying on a table or chart that is not easily provable.

Once you make a cut you either live with it or go buy more fabric. So my motto is check and double check before cutting your quilt sets.

Pros:

• Easy to follow charts when you need to customize quilt sizes
• Tables laid out in a methodical way
• Illustrations are three dimensional for clarity
• Has a quick-start guide
• Has "go to" pages to help you understand
• Has a content page for easy navigation

Cons:

• There is no conventional rule for doing something, i.e. formula for a quick reference
• I felt that I needed to test a few of the tables and charts for clarity purposes

The Verdict:

• The hard back cover and laminated pages gives the small book a prolonged life. The size of the book fits in a drawer and allows you to tuck it in your bag when traveling to and from your quilting stores.

Click To Get Your hands On The Quilters Reference Tool

Quilters Reference Tool - Test Example #1:

Suppose you need to know how many inches are in a half yard; a third of a yard; three fourths of a yard. You need to find a table that converts yardage to inches.

Test your math to confirm that you are looking at the right table:

• 36 inches equal 1 yard
• 36 inches divided by 2 equals 18 inches (half yard)
• 36 inches divided by 3 equals 12 inches (third yard)
• 36 inches times 3/8 (.375) equals 13.5 inches (three eights yard)
• 36 inches times % (.75) equals 27 inches (three quarters yard)

Page 23 in the All-in-One Reference Tool has such a table that converts yardage to inches and decimals.

Quilters Reference Tool - Test Example #2:

If you had three-fourths of a yard of fabric and needed to know how many 3 inch by 4 and half inch rectangles you would make sure that you are using the right chart.

Test your math to confirm that you are looking at the right table:

• You would first find the area of the block by multiplying the length of the block by the width and get 13 and half inches.
• Next you already know that three-fourths of a yard converts to 27 inches (36 " by .75 equals 27 inches.) as discussed above.
• A piece of fabric 27 inches long by 42 inches wide when multiplied together equals 1,134 square inches - area of the piece of fabric.
• Now divide 1,134 by 13 and half which equals 84 rectangles.

Page 25 in the All-in-One Reference Book has such a table that calculates the number of rectangles you can get from a specified piece of yardage.


Quilters Reference Tool - Test Example #3:

I always use a double fold strip for my quilt binding. Plus I always cut the binding on the bias (it wears better).

The formula is:

• The width of your square times the length of your square
• Equal area of the square
• Area of the square divided by desired width of bias
• Equals length of bias strip needed

Find the area of any given square of binding fabric (length time width). A yard is 36" by 36" which equals 1,296 (area of the square).

Divided 1,296 (the area of the square) by 2 l/2 inches (strips.) This gives you 518 inches. This is the amount of continuous bias inches that you will get from a 36 inch square.

Now measure the outside perimeter of your quilt and add 24 inches for mitering corners and connecting ends. In our example the quilt size is a Queen or 92 inches by 106 inches or:

92 + 92 + 106 + 106 + 24 = 420 inches of continuous bias.

As you can see, the amount of bias needed is 420 inches and your 36 inch square will make 518 inches of bias; plenty with a little to spare.

Page 33 in the All-in-One Quilters Reference Tool has a table that shows one yard of fabric will make 421 to 462 inches of binding.

With all our checking we are not a "doubting Thomas" but rather learning and understanding how to use the book!

• More Recommended Quilt Products
• More Recommended Quilting Tools
• Sewing Room Furniture
• Return to Keepsake Quilting