Charm Packs (5” Quilting Fabric Squares)

Charm packs usually have 42 squares, and each is 5" x 5". Seam allowances bring the size down to 4 ½" x 4 ½". If you sew the squares together with no additional fabric, your finished size will be 27" x 31.5". If you add fabric to the edges (for instance, 2" wide borders), one charm pack will enable you to make a crib-size quilt that is about 31" x 35.5". Of course, you can always add fabric between the squares (called "sashing") and wider borders to increase the size of your quilt.

The variety of colors in a charm quilt pack is based on the manufacturer or designer whose fabrics are included. Because they are typically bundled as a complete collection of one line, there will likely be a nice assortment of colors and themes. And because charm pack fabrics are from the same collection, they will all play together nicely.

It depends on whom you ask. All fabric will experience shrinkage when it's washed. If you have a large piece of material, it's generally recommended that you run it through the gentle cycle of your washing machine before sewing. However, we do not recommend pre-washing quilt-shop quality fabric, and many stitchers say you should forego pre-washing charm pack fabrics and other precut materials because you'll wind up with shrunken squares that have messy edges. If you want to pre-wash, you can either launder the material gently by hand or put the squares in a mesh laundry bag and run them through your washer on the gentle cycle. You may also want to use a product like Color Catchers Dye-Trapping Sheets for protection.