I’m hoping someone out there in the Bloggy Crafty Quilty World will be able to help me work out whether my maths on this quilt pattern is correct.

I want to make a quilt inspired by this quilt by Lynn Harris, it’s called Twinkling Stars and is based on the block pattern by Gwen Marston.  I’ve used the tutorial over on The Silly BooDilly to work out my block pattern construction.

I’m renowned for being crap at math.  (In fact it’s been a running joke in my marriage since before we were married!)  It’s ironic really given the fact that I went to Math Camp in Grade 10!

Image source (L-R): Quilter in the Gap (gray background), A Quilt is Nice (pink background) & Toe Feather (white background)

I’m really opening myself up here by sharing with you all my mathematical genius in action… be gentle with me.

So here goes:

Quilt size: 107″ x 108″ (minimum – if it’s bigger that’s great because I like to cocoon myself in the blanket when I sleep!)

Star Block

I’m going to use 2.5″ squares for the construction of this block.  I will need:

• 8 x 2.5″ squares for the points
• 1 x 2.5″ square for the middle
• 8 x 2.5″ squares for the background

Have decided to make 162 stars which will give me an inside space of 114″ x 102″.  To make 162 star blocks I have worked out I will need the following fabric:

Points:

I’m going to buy the New Colors Kona Cotton Solids Fat Quarter Bundle to make the points. This will give me 28 Fat Quarters.

This is how I worked out what I would need for the fabric for the points based on the purchasing of Fat Quarters:

A Fat Quarter is 18″ x 22″:

18 / 2.5 = 7.2

22 / 2.5 = 8.8

Round down

7 x 8 = 56 x 2.5″ squares per Fat Quarter

I worked out that I need a total of 1,296 squares (8 x 162) to make 162 blocks. However Each 2.5″ square will be halved to make a triangle so 1,296 / 2 = 648 squares.  Then if I work out the colour it’s 648 / 8 which means I need 81 squares for each colour.

Based on getting 56 squares per Fat Quarter that would mean that if I got 2 Fat Quarters per colour I should have enough to make the points and have some left over in case of mistakes (never!)

Therefore 1 x New Colors Kona Cotton Solids Fat Quarter Bundle will be more than enough to do the points.

Background:

Based on the information provided on Quilters Cache I have used the following information as a yard: 42″ x 36″.  However after sending out an SOS on Twitter I’ve now amended that measurement to 40″ x 36″.

40 / 2.5 = 16

36 / 2.5 = 14.4

Round down

16 x 14 = 224 x 2.5″ squares per yard

I require 8 background squares per block, which is 8 x 162 = 1,296

1,296 / 224 = 5.8 yards

Middle:

The middle block is a 2.5″ square and I need 162 of them.  I now know that I will get 224 x 2.5″ squares per yard so a yard of fabric will be enough to cover this requirement.  I’m actually going to use scrap for the middles so I won’t need to order any fabric for this component.

Background

These blocks need to be 6″ x 6″ which based on a yard being 40″ x 36″ means:

40 / 6 = 6.7

36 / 6 = 6

Round down

6 x 6 = 36 x 6″ squares per yard

I need 161 x 6″ squares, so that means

161 / 36 = 4.48 yards.  If I buy 5 yards of background I should be good for any mistakes, etc.

Border

If I do a 9″ wide border around the quilt and the finished size of the inside panel is 114″ x 102″ then I would need the following sashes:

Width = 114″ + 18″ = 132″ x 9″

Length = 102″ x 9″

For this I will need to work out how many strips per yard.

36″ / 9 = 4

I will get 4 strips of 40″ x 9″

I need a total length of 216″. A yard of fabric will yield 160″ of length.  Therefore 1.5 yards should cover my border requirements.

Total Fabric Required to Purchase

Background (Kona Snow) = 5 + 1.5 = 6.5 yards

Points (New Colors Kona Cotton Solids) = 1 x New Colors Kona Cotton Solids Fat Quarter Bundle

(I will need to add a yard of scraps for the middle squares of the star block.)

This will give me a finished quilt size of 132″ x 120″

As luck would have it, as soon as I type all this out I have a thought that maybe I should have worked out how many strips I need of each fabric instead.  But alas, this is how I’ve done it and I’m going to put it out there and see what other quilters think (you know, the people that actually know what they’re doing!).

I’d love to know if you think I’ve gotten it right, whether there’s another way to work it out or if I’m just plain nuts.

Don’t forget, I’m currently running a Scrap Vomit Squares Swap and you can get in on the scrap vomitty goodness. Want to know more: click here!