The PNQS Handy Dandy Wallet-size Fabric Guides

It’s happened to all of us! 

Picture it…

You’re standing in the quilt shop (PNQS, of course), and you see the most amazing fabric collection you’ve ever seen in your life. The colors are perfect, the prints are making you weep with their beauty, and wouldn’t you know it? You just painted your bedroom the exact color that would coordinate with a new quilt. 

Of course, you’re going to make one, right? But how much fabric do you need? This accent color – is a fat quarter enough? Or do you need a half yard? Can you get enough strips for your sashing out of 3/4 yard? How many inches is 3/4 yard, anyway? 

The tragedy for many is the moment of panic and indecision leaves them completely unable to make a decision. They go home to their rulers and calculators, only to return and find the fabric GONE. 

Don’t let this happen to you. 

We’ve created handy-dandy guides that you can tuck in your wallet for those very fabric emergencies. How big is a standard twin size quilt? Can I get enough squares out of this fat quarter? 3/8ths yard is what now?

They’re in PDF format and sized like a credit card, so you never have to be that poor deer in the quilt-lights. You’ll confidently pick up that fat quarter, knowing you can get enough squares for your project and a few for your scrap bin left over. 

Go confidently, quilter. We’ve got you covered!

Here they are if you’d like to view them on the web – but don’t try to print these, they’ll look ugly. Grab the PDF with the link above to print! (If it doesn’t do it automatically, you can select that these print 4 to a page, so you only use one sheet of paper!) Having trouble printing? Scroll down below the guides for more instructions!

(And one caveat with the standard quilt size guide…you know this varies so much with how deep the mattress is, how much drop you’d like, and whether you’re using it like a comforter or bedspread…we just wanted to give you a little baseline to go by so that you don’t have to try and ask your iPhone what size a California King quilt is…trust us…Siri’s a little batty. You’ll probably end up at the nearest California Pizza Kitchen after a side trip to a battery store.)

Having trouble printing the guides at the right size and all on one page? We can help! 

1. It’s a lot easier if you click the link to get to the guides and SAVE them to your computer – depending on your browser, you’ll find where you can “Save Page” or “Save Page As” and it’ll save as a PDF for you. When you open it up in Acrobat Reader, you’ll have more control over how you print it. (Plus, it’ll be saved to your computer, and if you take pity on some poor soul in the quilt shop without a guide, you can be a benevolent angel and give it to her – you’ll be able to print another without hunting for it on our site!) 

If you can’t save it and must print directly from your browser, you may not have the option to put them all on one page. Do make sure and UNCHECK any box that says “Fit to page,” because leaving it selected will make them VERY BIG so they take up the entire page rather than their current, adorable, easy-to-carry wallet size  

2. Open the document you saved to your computer and click to print. You want to make sure you’ve got a couple things selected, and I’ll walk you through them here.

3. First, make sure you’ve selected “Actual Size” and NOT “Fit to Page.” It’s the same as above – Actual Size is the same as a credit card. Fit to page is GIANT WHOLE SHEET OF PAPER which does not need to go in your wallet. Here are a few screenshots so you see what I mean! 

4. Let’s save a tree, shall we? This is why I like saving it to my computer rather than printing from my browser. Click Multiple (if yours looks different, you’re looking for the option of how many pages of your document it prints per sheet of paper – it may be in print properties or layout). On the Multiple menu, I put “Custom, 2 by 2” so that all 4 sheets print on my one sheet of paper. Fun! 

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