What is the standard size for fabric quilting blocks?

Question

I have lots of fabric that would be good for quilting. I am having a garage sale and would like to sell quilting blocks of the material. As I am not a quilter I don't know what the best size to sell the block in would be. Can you help?

Answer 1

Don't cut the fabric. That's not how it works. We cut up fabric into various pieces and put it back together to create a design. Cutting up the fabric will make it less attractive for a quilter. It limits the possibilities.

Answer 2

You did not say how large your pieces are, but are there are so many shapes and sizes quilters may want to cut them into, you could consider cutting larger pieces into "fat quarters" These are 9" x 22#. Most quilters use 100% cotton fabrics. These usually come in 45" widths. By the time the selvages are trimmed off, the full width of the fabrid would be 44". If you divide a yard into halves vertically at the 18"length, and then divide those two halves again, you have four pieces 9 by 44 ". Now cut each one down the fold if it is still there of fold the fabric vertically, bringing together the edges you first made by cutting off the selvages. Cut along the fold. You know have eight fat quarters. In a fabric store these retail at between $1.00 each (big clearance sale) to $2.50 each (brand new fabric). Quilters like these because they can get an assortment of more colors or prints this way than by buying whole yards of fabrics. Good luck. You can also make fabric grab bags with smaller pieces and just make them with a price like $4.00 for the entire bag. Quilters will probably ask if the contents are all cotton though.

Answer 3

You would not be selling quilt blocks. You would be selling fabric squares. There is a really big difference. I suggest to do a search on Ebay for "fabric squares" and do one for "quilt blocks". Quilt blocks are made up of assorted fabric pieces cut into different shapes and sizes then sewed together to make a quilt block. A fantastic quilting website is quilterscache.com please take the time to look it up and look around the different pages. The owner of the website has done a fantastic job. I have no affiliation with it. Just a long time user of her patterns. I do agree that quilters want 100% cotton in their quilts.

Answer 4

Do not cut the fabric into squares leave the pieces whole no matter the size! A quilter will want "ALL" of the fabric they can get in one peiece then when they decide what they are making with it they can cut it into the sizes they need. Again only 100% cotton fabrics! Even the smallest pieces are good. Fill a grocery sack with the smaller pieces or even a gallon ziploc bag, and price them accordingly. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

There are several things to take into consideration here.

1. Quilters will only want good quality 100% cotton fabric. If your collection is other than that, a quilter wont want it.

2. Solid pieces of fabric are seldom used as a "Block". For quilters, the fabric is cut into small pieces, rearranged, and sewed back together in a particular design.

3. If you are unsure of the fabric content, I would just list it as assorted fabrics, and sell it in large pieces or yardage. Some buyers may want decorator fabrics or clothing specific fabrics, in which case they would want the larger pieces, not little block cuts.

Hope this helps you.

Answer 6

First you need to find out what type of material it is. It could be knit, cotton, polyester or other types. Most quilters only want material that is 100% cotton. Also depending on how old the material is, you may want to check to see if it is dry rotten.
I do know that if you buy material on eBay or other places, you can buy it cut up into blocks. A Fat Quarter would be 18X22 inches. Some people like blocks that are 12.5 or 6.5.
Being how you plan on selling this at a garage sell, I would not cut the material unless you plan on cutting it up as FQ (Fat Quarters).
Good luck.. Carol

Answer 7

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I'm a little confused as to whether you want to use the 4" squares you have as whole pieces in the 9-patch blocks, or if you want to cut them up into smaller squares to use as pieces in the 9-patch blocks. If you used the 4" squares as is as the (9) pieces needed for a 9-patch block though, you'd really only have room for ONE 9-patch block in your placemat, with a little room leftover for a border perhaps! (...each 9-patch block would finish at 10.5 inches" since 3.5" x 3 = 10.5"). But I don't think that's what you want. ...If you did want to make it that way though, you could make it larger by adding more blocks (or probably partial blocks, just cut them to the size needed) to those --or far easier, just add a border fabric around the whole unit to bring it up to the size you want. So if you want to use more than one block (9-patch) for your place mat, you'll need to cut each 4" block into smaller pieces then use those in each block. For example, if you cut the 4" squares into four 2" squares, 9 of those (as a 9-patch block) would end up as a 4.5" square unit, if my math is right, so then you could use 6 of those 9-patch blocks (in a 3 x 2 grid) to make a placemat that was 13.5" wide and 9" tall. It's best to get out the graph paper and just see what will fit and what won't. When using graph paper you'll always be figuring *without* the 1/4" seam allowances on each side of each piece of fabric though... then add them back when actually cutting. Sorry that sounded confusing, but thought I should add it. Diane B.

Answer 8

I agree with everybody but Carol.....sorry Carol......but you shouldn't cut the fabric....and 100% cotton is best....measure big pieces and mark them with the size......scraps, put in a plastic bag and sell for a certain $$ price.....3-4-5-$$$ whatever you think they may be worth.....and yes, scraps sell....I frequently buy them as I make quilted postcards and little pieces are just right for my projects.....

Answer 9

I agree that you should not cut it. Sort it into sizes, i.e. under a yard, 1-2 yards, 3 yards+, and price it according to the size.

Good luck at your sale!

Answer 10

I agree- don't cut it up! Leave it in big pieces.