Tag Archives: 6″ strip

6″ (15.2 cm) strips of the full width of fabrics for quilting, versus fat quarters?

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I started selling Art Gallery Fabrics, and other specialist designs, a couple of years ago, because they are so beautiful.  I don’t manage to get around to doing a lot of dressmaking these days, although at one time, I used to make most of my own clothes and hand sewn gifts for other people.  Some of the patterns I used are still in my sewing box, and occasionally I go thro’ them to sell on etsy, although finding them has got more difficult since I have moved!

Below are some of the more recent 100% cotton fabrics I have in stock, and there are some really lovely ones on back order, which I hope will arrive soon, and will put them up when they do.  I list some of these on etsy but I usually only show a small selection there.   To find the whole range of fabrics I currently stock, it’s best to go to my new website – this link will take you to the fabric category page.

I also plan to make some quilts one of these days, and have been collecting equipment and instructions, but altho’ I brought my old sewing machine with me, I never seem to have the time!  Things are rather chaotic here, as there is so little space to work in – until I can finally make a few changes to the layout of the cottage.

The width of these fabrics are usually 45″ (114 cm), but some of them are wider, and I always offer a per metre price, AND a price for a 6″ (15 cm) strip of the full width of the fabric.  This is a useful and cheap way to get a sample of the fabric – priced at around £2.50 – and is big enough to use for adding contrast fabrics to clothes, AND, to be used as squares, triangles etc, for quilting projects.

Oddly enough, I don’t get many orders for these 6″ strips!  Quilters are familiar with fat quarters of fabric – ie: a square quarter of a metre – or whatever shape folding a metre into 4 gives you.  I find this an uneconomical way to sell fabric, as you have to cut into the length of the fabric to provide the fat quarter, and may not sell the other 3 pieces, whereas, if you order a 6″ strip, I can cut the whole piece off from the whatever length of fabric I have, and we both get a good deal.

So I would be interested to know, from those of you that make quilts, or do general sewing and dressmaking, whether you think the 6″ strip is a good idea or not?