Montana Quilter

Hi ladies- I am going to start a queen sized quilt in January. It will be Mariner's Compass style but with the compasses looking more like stars. Also not all big stars , lots of small ones floated around, and different star block patterns used. I have no idea how much background fabric to buy, I have looked at a few books but can't seem to find an estimate, can ya'll give me your thoughts on that? Thank You

justflyingin

Are you working with a pattern? It should tell you. If not, buy lots...like maybe 5-6 yards in a color you won't mind having left over. Far better to have too much than to run out and not be able to buy more.

fabric lover

There are several calculators online, that might help you make an estimate.
Here's one: http://quiltbug.com/articles/fabric-calculator.htm

PaperPrincess

The other thing you need to look at is how big do you want your finished quilt to be? the top of a queen mattress is 60X80. How much do you want to hang over the edge? 5"? 14" (to cover mattresses)? Do you want a pillow tuck? You need to figure this out first.
I would look thru some magazines for something similar for a base line, then go from there. As justflyingin said, buy more than you think! Better to have leftovers than run out and not be able to match the fabric.

charsuewilson

I would plan on having about 10 yards of the background fabric around. If you're doing paper piecing, it will take about as much of the background fabric as if it were solid. This will of course change if you're doing borders and how big they are. You can do your own calculation of how much would be needed for the solid background size you need. Then for the color(s) of the star points, you'll have to figure this out yourself based on how big the pieces/points will be.

Montana Quilter

Thanks for the input-I am always interested in buying more fabric than needed! I am nitfollowing a pattern, so I will look at similar sized patterns and go from there. Thanks again!