Flying_V_Goddess

I was wondering if EQ5 over estimates on the fabric yardages.

I ask because I did the math for a quilt I made in EQ5. Each fabric was 2.5 or 2.75 yards. But when I did the math myself I had 1.5 or 2 yards....and this is after I found I'd have some extra pieces and even added an extra half yard. Either my math is totally off or EQ really overshots the fabric yardage.

patricej

EQ usually estimates more fabric than i need to make the quilts i've designed using that software.

i think if you follow their cutting instructions exactly, it might consume their estimated yardage. i can't say for sure because i always stare at the fabric until i figure out how to get as much from it as possible and then cut it my own way.

k3n

I know EQ6 does... I think it makes a square or rectangle out of every piece and figures that piece as the required yardage, so for eg if you needed HSTs, it would figure a complete square for each one rather than you can get two from a square. Hope that makes sense.

I designed my avatar in EQ and then made it up as a pattern to sell so had to work out exact yardage for that and EQ had over-estimated in total I think by 2-3 yards. :shock: :D

I don't mind if it's for myself and I'm buying the fabric for the project - call it stash building :mrgreen: But it is annoying if you want to use stash and you're a bit short on fabric, then I figure everything out myself to see if I've got enough. :-D

MTS

That's exactly EQ calculates it.

So if your quilt is just a bunch of squares/rectangles, the estimate will be pretty close. Any other shapes, and it will overestimate the yardage. I rarely use that feature.

Tussymussy

Yes and sometimes by a very long way. I designed a quilt for a King sized bed and it wanted me to buy nearly 30 yards of fabric. I only used 3 colours and the blocks were made up of 1.5" HSt's......... so where did 30 yards come into it??? :lol:

k3n

Was the actual requirement half of that, ie 15 yards? As I said, EQ calculates a square for every triangle, not that you can get two from one square. Hopefully they'll update this at some point or perhaps give two yardage options - one like this and one exact. :-D

quiltinghere

WAIT!!! doesn't overestimating fabric mean we buy more fabric than we need for a project and then we have leftovers which we can add to our stash?

Have I been doing it wrong all these years? :)

mytwopals

EQ will also calculate the border fabrics being cut lenthwise as a single piece. So, a 4" border around a 60" x 80" quilt would require 2 1/4 yds. of fabric just for the border. Piece the same border by cutting the fabric crosswise and you need less than 1 yd. of fabric. Quite a big difference, if you have multiple borders in you quilt design.

jljack

I have found it's not only EQ that does that, but several patterns that I have purchased have called for far more fabric than needed. Especially BOMs....it seems like they way overestimate!! I do a rough calculation of what is needed for the size of quilt I want and reduce my purchase to approx that amount. It's the incremental reductions that are the most difficult...how much of fab A, Fab B, etc. I try to stick to a percentage of each, say 10%, 20%....