If the fabric calculations for your next quilt look like this, you might benefit from a quilting calculator! The good news is there are a number of free, easy-to-use calculators available, specifically designed for quilters.
Quilter’s Paradise offers a calculator that will make a number of calculations for you, and it’s free. It will calculate how much fabric is needed if you want to cut a given number of fixed sized pieces, how much fabric will be needed for each border, as well as calculations for batting, backing and binding. It will also provide measurement conversions. This calculator does it all.
The Quilter’s Little Helper is a free iTunes App for smart phones and iPads. This App is extremely handy, as it lets you do the calculations while you are on the go. If you are in the quilt shop and need to figure out the amount of yardage you need to buy, you will have the tool to do it. I use this App on my iPad all the time and I love it!
The Vrya website offers two versions of their calculator, which you can use for free online. You are also able to purchase a version for off-line use for $3.50, which is very affordable. This is a nice option if you want to make the conversions without needing to go online. The classic calculator offers yardage estimates based on the shapes used in each block: squares, triangles, half-square triangles, half-rectangle triangles, quarter-square triangles, trapezoids, and parallelograms. The flash calculator makes the same calculations, but you can simply click on the shapes you want to use, enter the number needed and it instantly makes the yardage calculation for you.
If you would prefer a more portable method of calculation, you might consider the Quilter’s FabriCalc, a hand-held calculator. Not only does it perform all of the functions provided by the internet calculators, it also offers the ability to do a reverse calculation to find the number of shapes that can be cut from a piece of fabric, will calculate the cost of the yardage, and will store fabric yardage solutions for six individual types of fabric. The $22.00 price tag seems worth the money.
These easy-to-use calculators eliminate the need for pencil and paper calculations and provide yardage estimates that makes it possible to buy all the fabric you will need for your project without the fear of running out of a particular fabric part way through the project. Put these calculators in your quilting tool box.
Until next time,
Joan