CraftM8 › QuiltM8 › Calculators › Precut yield
What does a fat quarter really give me?
Whole pieces from any source — fat quarter, fat eighth, charm, jelly roll strip, layer cake, or a custom cut — at your piece size, in both grain directions, with the leftover shown. Exact yield, not a waste percentage.
The other way: 56 pieces · Left over — width: 1/2" · Left over — length: 1"
Show the maths
| 1 | Cut size — cut sizes as entered | 2 1/2" × 2 1/2" |
| 2 | Across — 18" ÷ 2 1/2" → round down | 7 |
| 3 | Down — 21" ÷ 2 1/2" → round down | 8 |
| 4 | Pieces — 7 × 8, other way 56 | 56 |
| 5 | Left over — strip left along each edge | 1/2" × 1" |
Pieces are laid out in a plain grid. Nesting shapes may fit more. Precut sizes vary between makers; measure yours if it is close.
Where the formula comes from
Capacity is a floor division in each direction, tried with and against the grain — turning the piece is frequently the difference between two pieces and three. The famous trap: a fat quarter and a quarter yard have identical area and different yields.
- Fat-quarter and precut yields. A fat quarter is nominally 18" × 21", a fat eighth 9" × 21"; both are conventions rather than standards, so every source dimension is editable. The vectors reproduce the widely circulated published fat-quarter yield table exactly.
- Simple grid cutting. Pieces are cut on a plain grid, both orientations costed, more pieces wins. No nesting or offcut reuse: that is a packing problem, and a cutter working from a folded piece does not do it either.
This is the app's own arithmetic running in your browser, put through the same worked examples every time this site is built.
A worked example
The worked example is the trap itself: 5″ squares from a fat quarter (12) against the same area as a quarter-yard strip (8). Identical area is not identical fabric.
| 1 | Cut size — cut sizes as entered | 5" × 5" |
| 2 | Across — 18" ÷ 5" → round down | 3 |
| 3 | Down — 21" ÷ 5" → round down | 4 |
| 4 | Pieces — 3 × 4, other way 12 | 12 |
| 5 | Left over — strip left along each edge | 3" × 1" |
Works with
- How many strips, and how much fabric? — The same question asked of yardage.
- What do I cut for half-square triangles? — What the squares are usually for.
In the app, this answer joins a quilt
Save it to a project, add the other tools' answers, and the shopping list totals every fabric with one rounding — then prints a cut sheet for the table. Offline, no account, one payment, yours forever.
In development A closed test on Google Play is the next step.