Tutorial

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QuiltSandwich is not a quilt designer. It is a powerful set of calculators and other notions that make it faster and easier to gather and prepare fabric for sewing.

QuiltSandwich is unique because the tools work together and are helpful throughout the process of gathering and preparing fabric. And each tool can also be used on it's own — so you can work the way you want to work, in the way that best fits a project at that moment.

This tutorial gives a basic understanding of the tools that make up QuiltSandwich. The tutorial screenshots are on an iPhone. However, QuiltSandwich can be used on either an iPhone or iPad. All settings are available on both. One advantage of the iPad is it will show all the information on one screen.

1 Create a list of pieces with count and size for your design, pattern or kit

QuiltSandwich calculates fabric yardage and creates a cutting diagram for pieces. It requires just 2 pieces of information:

Count
Finished Size

For example, here's the list for this design. The count and size is listed for each, along with a note about planned fabric color.

you design quiltsandwich calculates yardage

13 6x6 squares - Purple fabric

2 6x6 square - Pink fabric

2 6x6 square - Light Green fabric

2 6x6 square - Golden fabric

2 6x6 square - Orange fabric

1 6x6 square - Green fabric

1 6x6 square - Medium Blue fabric

1 6x6 square - Sky Blue fabric

1 6x6 square - Blue Green fabric

48 1.5x6 rectangles - Navy Blue fabric

48 1.5x6 rectangles - White fabric

88 3x3 squares - White fabric (border)

240 3x3 Half Triangles - White fabric

52 3x3 squares - Purple fabric

104 3x3 Half Triangle - Purple fabric

48 3x3 Half Triangles - Navy Blue fabric

10 3x3 Half Triangle - Medium Blue fabric

15 3x3 Half Triangle - Green fabric

9 3x3 Half Triangle - Light Green fabric

13 3x3 Half Triangle - Orange fabric

12 3x3 Half Triangle - Yellow fabric

11 3x3 Half Triangle - Pink fabric

9 3x3 Half Triangle - Sky Blue fabric

9 3x3 Half Triangle - Blue Green fabric

1 Add project to QuiltSandwich

Tap 'Quilt Projects'.

Next, Tap '+ New Quilt' to open pop-up.

If you are looking for a new design, tap '⬇︎PATTERNS' to find a free pattern to download from quiltingapps.com. After downloading you can add fabrics or adjust pieces to re-size the quilt.

Patterns can be downloaded from quiltingapps.com web site

Tap 'Add a New Quilt' in pop-up.

There are two options for making copy of a quilt project --

'Copy Quilt w/Fabrics' makes a copy that includes the Fabrics.

'Copy Quilt w/out Fabrics' makes a copy that includes all the pieces, however, there are no assigned fabrics.

Tap to enter quilt info --

Name.
Quilt finished size.
If you've got one, add an image for the thumbnail!

The name, quilt size, and images can be edited later.

2 Add pieces

From Home screen, tap 'Quilt Projects' to open Library.

Tap 'My next quilt' to open.

Projects are listed newest at the top.

Tap '+New Piece' to open pop-up.

The three options are described below --

Add Piece from Calculator
Add Piece from Fabrics
Snap a Picture to Add Fabric

1. Add Piece from Calculator —

Tap 'Add Piece from Calculator' to open Calculator.

Scroll to check allowances.
Tap Scissors for cutting diagram.

Tap 'Rectangle or Square' for more piece shapes

Use adjustments to allowances as a way to squeeze more pieces out of a piece of fabric.

Tap Save.

The new piece is added to My next quilt — with a reminder to add fabric.

QuiltSandwich adds the seam allowance to the finished size before calculating yardage and creating cutting diagram.

NOTES ABOUT THE CALCULATIONS:
Yardage Calculations are rounded up to the nearest 1/8 yard.
When Least Fabric is selected, calculations are run twice in the background, first orienting pieces in one direction and then the other. The layout that uses the least fabric is shown.

The yardage for each piece is calculated independently. So, if the cutting diagrams for multiple pieces from the same fabric show 'good size scraps', review for opportunities to adjust allowances and buy less fabric overall
When fabric price per yard is entered, QuiltSandwich will calculate the cost shown for the amount of fabric used by that piece, the total cost of the available yardage or FatQuarters is shown in Fabric Stash.
If you are working with cut sizes enter the piece cut size AND set the seam allowance to zero. This is explained further on the How do I? page "What if you only have cut sizes to work with?"

2. Add Piece from Fabrics —

Tap 'Add Piece from Fabrics' to open Fabric List.

Scroll through current list of fabrics.
Tap a fabric to choose it for the piece.

These fabrics were added earlier. How to add fabrics is explained later in this tutorial.

Tap Save.

The new piece is added to My next quilt — with a reminder to add piece size and count.

3. Snap a Picture to Add Fabric —

Tap 'Snap a Picture to Add Fabric' to open Camera.

Take picture. 'Retake' until you like it, then tap 'Use Photo'.
Set image to be saved to just the app 'Off' or to both the Photo Library on the device and in QuiltSandwich.

Tap Save.

The new piece is added to My next quilt — with a reminder to add piece size and count. Of course Fabric details are still needed, tap Fabric tile to edit.

3 Add fabrics

Above, we went through the process to add a fabric directly to a project. Here we'll learn how to add a fabric independent of a project — that is, how to add fabrics that will be listed in 'Add Piece from Fabrics'.

Tap 'Fabric Stash' to add a fabric to unassigned fabrics.

Tap '+ New Fabric'.

Pick an option from the pop-up --

Snap a Picture — opens the Camera
Photo Library Image — opens Photos
App Image — lists the images saved in QuiltSandwich

You can also add a fabric by taking a screenshot of an internet fabric.

There are three ways to add a fabric to QuiltSandwich --

Newly taken with Camera
Selected from the device's Photo Library
Selected from images already in QuiltSandwich but not copied into the Fabric Stash list

However a picture of a fabric is brought into QuiltSandwich, a fabric tile is created and added to the fabrics in the Fabric Stash as the first tile.

Tap the new color tile to see basic info about it. As you'd expect, new fabrics come in --

Unnamed fabrics
Set to default 44"
No pricing
No yardage shown

'Edit Fabric' button opens fabric settings so info can be added and fabric defaults adjusted, if needed.

Tap a tile to see Quilt Sandwich fabric details or edit

Color tiles can be rearranged by using the tap-hold-drag gesture.

Use 'COMPARE Fabrics Side-by-Side' to see how well one fabric will look beside another.

Tap 'COMPARE Fabrics Side-by-Side' to bring up a pair of large swatches that you can swipe through (top and bottom).

Tap icon in the bottom tab bar to exit Fabric Stash.

4 Use Color Mix after loading all pieces and fabrics for quilt top

Color Mix is one of the tools on the My next quilt page you can open with the Quilt Projects button or from Quilts in the bottom nav bar.

Use Color Mix before cutting ...and maybe even before buying your the fabrics...

Color Mix displays the quilt top fabrics (including border!) in the proportion they will have in the final quilt top. It is a unique and powerful way to assess the overall impression of a quilt top.

In this example — notice how the very high number of colors in My next quilt (good scrap quilt pattern?) all look good together. This should create a quilt top that doesn't have any pieces looking out of place.

Quilt Sandwich Color Mix shows the proportion of colors in the quilt top

Switch Color Mix to Gray Scale to see the tone mix of the fabrics.

In this example — notice how the colors used in the smaller pieces in My next quilt have a similar tone. The two prominent dark colors have a similar tone to each other. This mix of tones should create a quilt top that will feel 'in balance'.

5 Figure yardage for the rest of the quilt sandwich

+ New Piece
(or + New Fabric!)

Tap 'Rectangle or Square' to scroll to these other pieces
• Binding: Straight-Grain or Bias
• Backing: Best Fit, Vertical or Horizontal
• Batting: Best Fit, Vertical or Horizontal

The quilt size set for the project must be correct at this point. It is used to calculate yardage and to create the cutting diagram.

To edit the quilt name, size or add images, tap the top row on the Quilt page (It has quilt name and size.)

Some cutting diagrams, like this one for Bias Binding, can run for several pages.

6 Use fabric lists to help gather and cut pieces

All the information added about pieces and their fabrics will help make gathering fabric and working at the cutting table easier.

Shopping List

Acquiring fabrics?
Go to Notions for a Shopping List. This checklist summarizes all the fabrics in the project and lists what is needed.

Fabric Checklist

Gathering fabrics to your cutting table?
Go to Notions for the Fabric Checklist. This checklist lists all the fabrics in the project in a checklist so you can mark off each fabric as it is found.

Fabric List

Pattern PDFs

Working at your cutting table?
Go to Notions or the Quilt page for these lists.

Fabric List organizes piece cutting by fabric. List with each fabric are the pieces to be cut from it.
Pattern PDFs is a single PDF with all the individual cutting diagrams. The PDF can be referenced from your device at the cutting table or printed if you prefer to work with paper.

That's it.

Your pieces are ready —
There are enough.
Each is in the right fabric.

FOOTNOTES More tools

Quick Calc version of the Yardage Calculator —

Tap 'Yardage Calculator' on opening page, Home, to quickly get to the calculator.

It opens to Quick Calc which is optimized for quick figuring. Fabric size and piece info is added by spinning picker wheels. Tap 'Switch' for full Calculator, 'Save' add to a project. As always, the cutting diagram is created.

Tap 'Switch' to see allowances.

The full Calculator shows defaults for the allowances.

This is an easy way to adjust yardage to fit your favorite methods!

Tap 'Switch' to return to Quick Calc.

Tap 'Save' to add piece to a project.

Journal —

Open a quilt to find the Journal.

It has --

A text editor for adding multiple notes
Unlimited images

The Journal can be saved as a PDF to Print or Share.

quiltsandwich journal for sharing your quilt

Notions: Real notions, simple and smart —

Triangle Calculators

Calculators convert Finished Size dimensions into Cut Size
Set of 3 calculators for figuring Half Rectangles, Half Square & Corner and Quarter Square & Side Setting Triangles.

Size it!

% change to get from original to desired size
Figures enlarge or reduce percentage.

Share & Archive

Share a project / Save a project
Create quilt project file to Share to another quilter to open in their QuiltSandwich. This same file can also be Saved and Archived to iTunes to free up space on a device.

APP Images

Manage images stored in QuiltSandwich
Display of all images stored in the app. Images that are no longer needed can be deleted here.

Mattress, Pillow and Batting Sizes

Table of common sizes
For mattresses, pillowcase & pillows, and batting.

Conversions

Conversion tables
Yards to inches, Decimal equivalents, Inches to millimeters, Yards to meters

Pixel Quilt How-to Guide

How-to guide for making Pixel Quilts (from images)
QuiltSandwich has partnered with image-to-pixels app Color Hints Mosaic (CH Mosaic). This guide outlines the steps to transfer a pixeled image from CH Mosaic into QuiltSandwich to get the assembly pattern, yardage by color with cutting diagrams.