Fabric Requirements and Sting

My Springtime Quilt Part 2

One of the many, many cool things about Inklingo is that it provides all the info you need to determine fabric requirements for ANY quilt.

The method is brilliant and might take your breath away. (Please keep breathing.)

My example this time is My Springtime Quilt (below).

Sting in 1983

Sting and The Police

We love The Police but don’t let The Quilt Police handcuff you into thinking you can’t design quilts and determine fabric requirements yourself.

You can do this! With Inklingo.

Fabric requirements are almost foolproof unless you become distracted by Sting’s magnetic eyes and chiseled jaw.

Sting wrote With Every Breath You Take (listen below) in 1982 and it was released in 1983 when he was 32. You know. The good old days.

Determining how much fabric you need is much, much simpler than writing a song that endures for decades. This song is part of Sting’s legacy, just the way quilts are part of yours.

There are double-checks built in to give you confidence in your numbers. Let’s get it on!

Springtime Quilt

STEP 1 for Fabric Requirements is Counting the Shapes

At a glance, you can see that My Springtime Quilt has 25 blocks (5 rows of 5).

Springtime quilt block

By looking at a single block, I know that no matter how many colors and fabrics I use, I need the shapes for 25 blocks to add up to this:

  • A – 1 x 13 blocks = 13
  • B – 4 x 25 blocks = 100
  • C – 8 x 25 blocks = 200
  • D – 8 x 25 blocks = 200
  • E – 4 x 25 blocks = 100
  • F – 4 x 25 blocks = 100 (half F and half mirror image as provided in the layouts)
  • G – 4 x 25 blocks = 100 (half G and half mirror image as provided in the layouts)
  • H – 2 x 12 blocks = 24 (replacing A in 12 of 25 blocks)

Starting with these numbers will give me confidence in the final results.

Springtime Combo 2

Very cool:  25 sets of Combo 2 prints all 400 triangles for 25 blocks.

Inklingo makes it easy to determine how much fabric is required for these 400 shapes AND there are lines to make it easy to cut (no measuring) AND there are precision corners to make it easy to sew.

So far, almost as cool as Sting.

Springtime Combo 3

Even cooler news: Each set of Combo 3 includes enough shapes F and G with the mirror image for one block. For 25 blocks, print 25 sets. Easy peasy.

Without Inklingo, F and G can be confusing because of the mirror image requirement. Inklingo reduces the chance of error with Combo layouts.

Cool and confident: You can use the numbers for each shape A to H (above) for a double-check if you make your own variation.

Springtime quilt block with no inset seams

Insets seams are optional. If you want to eliminate the insets seams, replace 100 E with 200 D (yellow bee fabric).

Monkey says, with precise lines and crosshairs printed on the fabric, no one needs to avoid insets anymore!

STEP 2 for Fabric Requirements

Relax and listen to Sting and The Police while you rock your colors with every breath you take.

Unbelievably (literally), this song has had more than a billion views on YouTube with the wrong words! Inklingo makes this better too.

Every Breath You Take = Every Quilt You Make

I’ll be watching you = I’ll be printing you (and sometimes, I’ll Inklingo you).

Here you go. Click to listen and read along!

(Every breath you take)
Every quilt you make
And every test of ink
Every design upon
Every Moda charm
I’ll be printing you

(Keep going.)

Inklingo Test Page

Every single day
And every print from Kaffe
Every layer cake
Every scrap you’ve saved
I’ll be printing you

Libretto for Non-Quilters

Charms, Layer Cakes, Fat Quarters, and Jelly Rolls are ways of packaging quilt fabric.
Moda, Kaffe Fassett, Oakshott, Tula Pink, Riley Blake, and Jinny Beyer are popular fabric designers. (No affiliation.)
“Repro” is a reproduction fabric and “stash” is a collection of fabric.
The Quilt Police” is anyone who criticizes your quilt without being asked for an opinion. Not to be confused with The Police.

Oh, can’t you see
Oakshotts tempting me?
How our points all match
With every seam and patch
Every layer cake
Every scrap you’ve saved
Every Tula Pink
Every fine batik
I’ll be printing you

Print shapes on fabric with Inklingo

(Since you’ve gone I’ve been lost without a trace)
Since you print, you will never need to trace
I print at night, fat quarters with no waste
I cut around and it’s perfectly precise
I have repros and I long for fussy shapes
Let’s Inklingo baby, baby, please

Sting and a fan

(Rock your shoulders to this fabulous long sequence . . . or cut some freezer paper or print.)

Oh, can’t you see
New shapes tempting me?
How our stash goes down
With every hexagon
With every precise line
Every Riley Blake
Every layer cake
Every fine batik
I’ll be printing you

Every jelly roll
Every Beyer scroll
I’ll Inklingo you
I’ll Inklingo you

Monkey says this song is even more intense—and not as spooky and brooding—when you know it is really about quilting.

Oh, that unforgettable guitar riff by Andy Summers! Haunting me.

Inklingo Catalogue of Shapes

STEP 3 Fabric Requirements from the Catalogue of Shapes

I know many of you are anxious to start pulling fabrics from your stash, so today, I’ll give you the amounts for each of the fabrics in My Springtime Quilt, and next time I’ll show you step-by-step how I did it.

  • Blue – 1 yard (allow 1.25 yards?)
  • Green – 18 inches (allow extra if you can)
  • White – 49 inches (allow 1.5 yards)
  • Yellow – 29 inches (allow 1 yard, not including any fussy cutting)

In every case, it is a good idea to allow a little bit extra because fabric shrinks when you pre-wash it (strongly recommended). Allow even more if you plan to fussy cut.

The amounts are the same if you Layer to Cut instead of printing every shape.

Next time, I will show you how I used the Catalogue of Shapes to determine fabric requirements for My Springtime Quilt. There is also a detailed explanation in Winding Ways – Quilting the Inklingo Way (hardcover or download). I gave hints to Alex and Ricky in Episode 2911 when I was on The Quilt Show.

Springtime quilt in Electric Quilt

Step 4 (Optional) Fabric Requirements from Electric Quilt

In addition to the fabric requirements and new song lyrics, there is a free Springtime EQ8 Project File to download. (Trying hard to be as cool as Sting.)

If you have Electric Quilt 8, you can play with colors and improve on mine.

Don’t let The Police limit you to black and white like in their video. On the other hand, using shades of grey might help you decide where you want to have contrast in your quilt. EQ is a wonderful tool for playing with value and contrast. (Contrast is a big deal with The Quilt Police. Not sure about Sting.)

EQ uses an algorithm for fabric requirements which is not as reliable as the info in the Inklingo Catalogue of Shapes in the Springtime shape collection.

You can let EQ count the number of shapes in each fabric for you but you will probably want to create a version of your quilt with a different color for each shape, A to H.

Watch a demo of EQ8!

Black Friday Event on Now at ElectricQuilt.com! Save 25% on ALL PRODUCTS now through Nov 30! Apply promo code EVERYTHING in cart for discount. Plus, free sticker with every shipped purchase while supplies last!

Monkeey Sprintime shapes printed on fabric

Don’t Miss The Fun

Monkey wants to remind you that the low intro sale price on the Springtime shape collection will disappear soon. Don’t miss out!

Every single day
And every print from Kaffe
Every layer cake
Every scrap you’ve saved
I’ll be printing you

Until the next installment, don’t forget to breathe. Go ahead and listen to Sting again with the quilting lyrics, okay?

“I’ll be watching you.”

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