Pre Cut Quilting Fabrics

The Quilted Cowgirl offers more than just longarm quilting. The art of quilting requires a variety of material in different sizes and shapes. It can be tricky to find just the right fabric to finish your quilt. Deciding on a color scheme can also be overwhelming and time consuming. Precut fabrics make quilting easier and a little quicker. With precut fabrics, quilters will spend more time piecing their quilt and less time measuring and cutting the pieces. Quilting precuts are fabric bundles cut into common shapes and sizes. A precut fabric bundle is composed of coordinating fabrics from the collections of designers. Because the fabrics coordinate, you save hours of time finding matching fabric for your project. Standard precut fabric bundles include Fat Quarter bundles, Jelly Rolls, Charm Packs, Layer Cakes, and Honey Buns.

Fat Quarter bundles of fabric measure eighteen by twenty two inches. These bundles are carefully selected collections of fabric. Generally Fat Quarter bundles are created from a specific line of fabric. Quilters can use these bundles to build their fabric stash of small, user friendly pieces of fabric. Fat Quarter bundles were the first type of specialty bundles to be offered for sale. They are still the most popular bundle with quilters. You can expect a Fat Quarter bundle to contain one fat quarter of every print in a collection. Because the number of prints in any collection varies, so does the number of fat quarters in a bundle. Fat Quarter bundles are often considered to be a quilter’s best friend. Half of a fat quarter is called a fat eighth. Fat Eighth bundles contain rectangular fabric pieces measuring nine by twenty two inches. This shape is easy to incorporate as-is or can easily be sub-cut into smaller shapes. A Fat Eighth bundle is still composed of one piece of each print in a collection, varying based of the size of the collection. Typically bundles contain twenty to forty pieces.

Another common pre-cut bundle is the Jelly Roll. Jelly Rolls can be found at fabric and craft stores. They usually contain forty to forty two strips of two and a half inches by the fabric width, commonly forty four to forty five inches. The strips are layered and tightly rolled. They are often tied with a bow. Strips from a Jelly Roll offer a wide range of fun and scrappy options for quilters. The term Jelly Roll originated with Moda Fabrics leading to other companies offering their own version of the cute, round fabrics. They can be referred to as Design Rolls, Roll-Ups, Half Rolls, Bali Pops, and Stone Strips.

Charm Packs are precut bundles consisting of forty two fabric squares cut five by five inches. In general, a Charm Pack will contain at least one of each print in a collection. This can change depending on the company offering the charm pack. Because a Charm Pack contains forty two squares, there can be two or three squares of the same print. For quilters needing an easy project, Charm Packs make lovely patchwork quilts. These bundles are one of the least expensive precuts available. Sometimes they are called Stone Chips or Bali Snaps.

Similar to a Charm Pack is a Layer Cake. Layer Cakes are collections of pre-cut ten by ten inch squares of fabric. Each bundle includes forty two squares of fabric. Basically a Layer Cake is a supersize charm square! A Layer Cake offers a lot of fabric to experiment with. You can cut shapes for applique or create squares of different sizes from Layer Cakes. They can also be called Ten Squares or Bali Crackers.

Honey Buns are bundles of precut one and a half inch strips of quilt fabric. They offer a selection of coordinating fabrics from a collection. Each Honey Bun bundle usually includes forty strips of fabric but this can vary. Honey Buns offer an easy way to create a lovely project with minimal cutting, much like a Jelly Roll. They are perfect for quilt sashing and strip quilting.

One final bundle that quilters often utilize is a wool bundle. Wool bundles have multiple pieces of dyed wool that can be used for applique or quilting. Each bundle offers several small pieces of wool that has gone through the process of dyeing, felting, and drying. The wool is ready to be used in hand-work or machine quilting projects.

The Quilted Cowgirl loves the ability to create beautiful works of art utilizing fabric collections. Even more, she is ready to help you find the perfect fabrics to inspire you to create your next masterpiece.