counting yardage in quilts

How to compute yardage used without actually counting it (which I have really done in the past!)

Find the area of the quilt top as w" x l" = Area. 

If you use "small pieces" like 2" patches, multiply Area x 1.5. If you use "bigger pieces" like 3" patches or more, multiply Area x 1.25. 

Example: quilt top is 50" x 60" and is made of "small" pieces. 50 x 60 = 3000. 3000 x 1.5 = 4500. 

Now add the quilt back, which should be the same as the top Area. 

4500 (top) + 3000 (back) = 7500. 

Add your binding. Find your perimeter as (w + l) x 2. (50 + 60)x2 = 110x2 = 220. Multiply perimeter by width of binding. If you use 2.5" binding, 220 x 2.5 = 550 

top + back + binding = square inches 

4500 + 3000 + 550 = 8050 

Now divide square inches by 40 (WOF), then divide again by 36" for number of yards. 

8050/40 = 201.25 

201.25/36 = 5.59 yards. This seems about right for a lap quilt, including the binding. 

So this is good for keeping track of the yardage used. Now to design an excel for expenditures.....

What a surprise.

Yesterday I had gone in to the sewing machine shop to pick up Mr. Brother from servicing. Danny accompanied me and started looking over the various machines and toys and their respective bells and whistles. Of course I took great pains to show him the long arm machine, its setup and how it works with the computer set-up. Living in a RV we simply don't have the room to have such a toy and I told him that it was my "lust machine". The last few days he has been asking me what machine I would love to have if I could have any one that I wanted. Of course, this one comes under that category. While in the shop we overheard the ladies talking about the fact they were getting in their long-awaited order of Brother Scan n Cut, the very one that I wanted for Christmas. They didn't have them in though.

So today, Danny heads out on an errand early this am. Lo and behold when he comes back he brings me a Scan n Cut. Wow, whoopee. I couldn't wait to try it out. I have just the thing too. He tells me that it is a fabulous machine as the lady demonstrated it for him.

This evening I was able to try it out after reading the instruction manual, and the how-to's. I tried to scan and save to a memory stick but it wouldn't work. So I scanned and cut from a resident form. A heart within a heart so that when cut it was an outlined heart. Worked great and cut 2, one right after the other. And of course, me, I didn't get any photos as I did it. Next trial for sure.