What is pre-cut fabric?

Find out what you can do with pre-cut fabric here!

Are you a beginner quilter? Are you a seasoned quilter who's unfamiliar with pre-cuts, and looking for some more ideas for your next quilt?

Here is where you can find more information on Moda Fabrics & other manufacturer's pre-cut types, as well as get pre-cut fabric project ideas, so you know which is best for you!

What is pre-cut fabric?

If you're just diving into the wonderful world of quilting, or you're getting back into if after a long break, you might have noticed that pre-cut fabric has made quite a big splash on the scene in the past few years.

Fabric manufacturers such as Moda Fabrics, Robert Kaufman, Riley Blake and RJR Fabrics started selling pre-cuts as a way to promote their new fabric lines.

Pre-cuts usually have fabric from the same collection, so it's easy to match up colours and patterns. That can save you a lot of time, and make your quilting projects easier and faster!

What are the benefits of pre-cut fabric?

Variety

Pre-cuts will typically contain one print of every fabric in a collection, and sometimes duplicates of the more popular ones. With pre-cuts, you always ensure you get at least one of each fabric from a collection, without breaking the bank!

Perfectly matched fabric

Don't have time (or the skill) to perfectly match all the colours, hues and tones together for your next project? All the colours and patterns in a pre-cut work together perfectly as they all come from the same collection!

Save time

The less time you spend cutting, means you have more time to quilt and sew! Pre-cuts save you an incredible amount of time, and are just what you need if you're prone to getting sore hands from cutting, or if you have arthritis. 

Reduce fabric waste

Pre-cut friendly patterns reduce fabric waste, leaving you with less of a scrap pile to deal with later. Scrap piles CAN and WILL add up, as we all know. :)

Save money

Less fabric wasted means more money back in your pocket. Instead of buying too much fabric yardage, you get exactly what you need for your project in a pre-cut bundle!

They are so, so pretty

Don't those jelly rolls look so lovely up on your shelf? All wrapped up and colourful, ready to inspire your next quilt? Most of the time, it's hard to open them. They really add that extra colour and life to your sewing room shelves. :)

What are the different pre-cut fabric sizes?

Moda is a pioneer when it comes to pre-cuts, as they came up with a lot of the (delicious!) names for many of them, including jelly rolls and layer cakes.

You may be asking yourself "Why all the scrumptious sounding names? I thought I was making a quilt and not baking a tasty treat!" :)

Moda's bakery branding of the names starts to make sense when they call their wonderful collections of patterns "recipes". These "recipes" can be found on the Moda Bake Shop. The patterns at Moda Bake Shop are designed specifically for the different pre-cut types, so it's less confusing than trying to figure out which one is best on your own.

The image below is a great cheat sheet to quickly see many of the popular Moda pre-cut names and types as well as their sizes!

So you might be thinking to yourself "OK, that's great - I know what jelly rolls, charm packs and layer cakes are, but what the heck are stackers and roll ups?"

Well, each manufacturer has some of their own terms as well for their own pre-cut types. For instance, Riley Blake has "stackers" which are 5" squares just like charm packs, and Robert Kaufman has "roll ups" which are 2.5" strips just like jelly rolls.

Be sure to check out the different pre-cut types below to get more information on how they can be used in your next quilt, as well as some great FREE Moda patterns to use them with! (Who doesn't like FREE patterns?) :)

Fat Quarter Bundle Dimensions

Fat Quarter Dimensions

• 18" x 22" (Standard Fat Quarters)
• 19.7" x 22" (Canadian Fat Quarters)

Fat Quarter Uses:

• Cut them into layer cakes (10" x 10")
• Cut them into charm squares (5" x 5")
• Cut them into jelly roll strips (2.5" x 42" fabric strips)
• Cut them into mini-charm squares (2.5" x 2.5")

Fat quarter bundles are 18” x 22” pieces of fabric. Traditional quarter yards of fabric are cut from selvedge which gives you approximately 9” by 44 piece of fabric. This limits you as to how many cuts of fabric you get out of the 9” strip. Whereas a fat quarter folds the yard in half, then half again and cuts into “square” quarters giving you more fabric and a better format to cut smaller squares, rectangles and/or triangles. Fat quarter bundles generally consist of 1 of every each print in the collection. And as collections vary, so do the number of fat quarters in any given bundle. A fat quarter can be cut into 2 – 10” squares (layer cakes) with extra fabric for 4 – 5” charm squares 12 – 5” charm squares and a 22” Jolly strip. 56 – 2.5” mini charm squares. 7 – 2.5” x 22” Jelly Roll strips or 8 – 2.5” x 18” Jelly Roll strips. The possibilities for projects are endless!

Jelly Roll Dimensions

Jelly Roll Dimensions

• 2.5" x 42" (Width of fabric strips)

Jelly Roll Uses:

• Borders, sashing, and binding.
• Fussy-cut large prints.
• Frame appliques.
• Quilted place mats
• Table runners.
• Pillow cases.
• Jelly roll race quilts.
• Jelly roll rugs.

Jelly rolls are 2.5” x the width of fabric strips. There are typically 42 strips in each pack. Jelly rolls are very flexible in the quilting world. On their own, you can make the awesome-ly easy jelly roll race quilt. Who doesn’t want a beautiful quilt top pieced in one evening! Jelly rolls can be great for borders, sashing and binding! You can sub-cut them to frame appliques or fussy-cut large prints. Quilted place mats, table runners and pillow cases are just a fraction of the possibilities these pre-cuts can inspire you to create. Jelly Rolls are also known as: Rolie Polies, Maple Rolls, Roll Ups, Pixie-Strips, Bali Snaps.

They can also be used to make the incredibly popular and easy to make jelly roll rugs!

Layer Cake Dimensions

Layer Cake Dimensions

• 10" x 10" (Squares)

Layer Cake Uses:

• Cut them into charm squares (5" x 5")
  
• Cut them into jelly roll strips (2.5" x 42" fabric strips)
• Cut them into mini-charm squares (2.5" x 2.5")
• Patchwork sofa blankets.
• Pillows.

Layer cakes are 10” x 10” pieces of square fabric. They are jumbo sized charm packs! Layer cakes are great alone or versatile in that they can be cut to be charms, mini charms or jelly roll strips. Match a print layer cake and a solid charm to make those colors pop! Layer Cakes are as flexible to use as a fat quarter in my opinion. Again, sew them together out of the wrapper to make an easy stylish patchwork sofa blanket or pillows. Layer Cakes are also knows as: 10″ Stackers, Maple Cakes, 10 Squares, Bali Crackers, Patty Cakes.

Charm Pack Dimensions

Charm Pack Dimensions

• 5" x 5" (Squares)

Charm Pack Uses:

• Baby quilts.
• Baby bags.
• Bags and totes.
• Sachets pouches.
• English paper piecing. (Cut into 4, perfect for 1" hexagons)

A charm pack is a 5” x 5” square piece of fabric. Depending on the company, each charm pack contains at least 1 of each print. Generally there are 42 charms in each pack, which means there can be 2 or sometimes 3 of the same color print! Charm packs are fantastic because you can open them up and start sewing right away! Baby quilts and bags are great beginner projects to get your toe in the door to quilting. Cut a charm pack up to make pin wheels, 9-patches and add sashing open a whole new world of ideas to your next quilt! Charm Packs are also known as:  5″ Stackers, Maple Squares, Charm Square, Charm Roll (20pcs), Bali Snaps 

Mini-Charm Pack Dimensions

Mini-Charm Pack Dimensions

• 2.5" x 2.5" (Squares)

Mini-Charm Pack Uses:

• Small projects.
• Mini quilts.
• Small bags.
• Small pillows.

Discover FREE Mini-Charm Pack patterns at the Moda Bake Shop.

A mini-charm pack is a 2.5” x 2.5” square piece of fabric. Depending on the company, each mini-charm pack contains at least 1 of each print. Generally there are 42 mini-charms in each pack, which means there can be 2 or sometimes 3 of the same color print! Mini-charm packs are an adorable way to get whole collections of fabric on a budget, and are perfect for making small projects.

Fat Eighth Bundle Dimensions

Fat Eighth Bundle Dimensions

• 9" x 22" (Fat eighths)

Fat Eighth Bundle Uses:

• Cut into a good variety of smaller fabric sizes.
• Versatile!

Discover FREE Fat Eighth Bundle patterns at the Moda Bake Shop.

A fat eighth bundle is a 9” x 22” piece of fabric. It is the same as a fat quarter bundle, but cut in half width wise. With a fat eighth bundle you won’t be able to get the layer cake cuts but you’ll still get a wide variety of the smaller cut shapes. As with the fat quarter, the fat eighth bundle size varies based on the collection.

Honeycomb Dimensions

Honeycomb Dimensions

• Varies (hexagon shape)

Honeycomb Uses:

• Hexagon quilts.
• Half-hexagon brad quilts.

Discover FREE Honeycomb patterns at the Moda Bake Shop.

Honeycombs are fairly new in the pre-cut world. There are few different sizes by manufacturers and a variety of names such as Hexie, Hexagon and Honeycomb. They may seem daunting at first to sew but after a few times you’ll be happy to have added these pre-cuts to your repertoire.

Honey Bun Dimensions

Honey Bun Dimensions

• 1.5" x 42" (Width of fabric strips)

Honey Bun Uses:

• Adding small details to larger projects.
• Sashing.

Discover FREE Honey Bun patterns at the Moda Bake Shop.

Honey Buns are 1.5” x 44” strips of fabric. Like the mini charm pack is to the charm pack, a honey bun is the little brother/sister of the jelly roll. Although less common than the other pre-cuts (with it’s friend the turnover), you can use these packs to provide the small details to larger projects. Sashing is a fantastic way to use these. Honey Buns are also known as: Skinny Strips.

Turnover Dimensions

Turnover Dimensions

• 1.5" x 42" (Width of fabric strips)

Honey Bun Uses:

• Instant pinwheels and half square triangles.

Discover FREE Honey Bun patterns at the Moda Bake Shop.

Just like any of the other precuts, turnovers are great for the quilter who wants to get their hands on the fabric and avoid all the cutting! While they are not one of the more popular pre-cuts, they definitely have their place and use for certain patterns! Turnovers are also known as: HST (Half Square Triangle)