question for people that buy fabric by the meter instead of by the yard -
 

What are smaller cuts of fabric called in your countries?

In the USA, we have fat quarters and fat eighths (of yards) -

Is fabric also sold by fat quarters and fat eights (of meters)???

In Canada we buy fat quarters and fat eights. they are cut from a meter, so we have a bigger far quarter. it is 20".

However if they are precut bundles and come from US we only get the US fat quarter

ditto!

Though sometimes some LQS' fall back and use the American FQ ... which is a huge disappointment when you discover that.

To take your question a little further ... we have somewhat of a confused life, as many of the patterns produced are non-Canadian, so of course, come in yards. Patterns from Canadian designers will usually state the "yardage" required in metres with yards in brackets. Then of course, the pattern instructions will be in inches as after all, the quilting rulers are all in inches!!!

Many stores have the bolts priced in both yards and metres. If only one, then it will be in metres.

I tend to buy the # yards required, but as metres. That way it gives some allowance for shrinkage ... and of course, just a little extra for squaring up and miscuts. Not as though that ever happens! :D

For anyone wondering ....
1 metre = 1.09 yards = 39.37 inches

The names are the same - Fat Quarters and Eighths (less common) but 'yardage' is cut by the metre - 39" instead of 36", so, like Canada, our FQs are a little bigger.
A lot of patterns and most fanrics are imported from the US anyway, so the majority of people work in inches. Some of the younger quilters do use centimetres for measuring, but most don't.

Boy, I hope you don't live on the time zone line!

Thinking in both measurement systems isn't really a problem. It's quite like being bilingual or multilingual, and not confusing at all. When I order fabric from the US, it's in yards, and when I get it here or in the rest of the non-US world, it's metric.

I will admit that I have mental hiccups with temperatures, though. I think in Celsius, and Fahrenheit temps are difficult for me to "translate" into known heat/cold scales. I have to really think to convert someone's temperature of 101 F !

For me it's the same as Maggiem. In the US I order yards, when I go to the LQS I buy metres. I never measured the FQ's I bought there, I should do that! Now I did: 19.5 "x 21.5", is that metric or not?

I'm getting confused too with temperatures :) I sometimes use a conversion table to know how hot 90 F really is :D

Phew I've had to have a think lol here our shops cut in cm & metres - we have fat quarters, most patterns are in inches as the rulers - but the layer cakes etc come from the US which are slightly different again!

An American fat quarter is 18x21

I buy fabric in both measuremetns and use both inch and centimetre quilt patterns and rulers (not interchangebly, though). It is really much of a sameness - sometimes you get a little more, sometimes a little less. If you buy metres when the pattern calls for yards, the stash and scrap boxes benefit.