Excuse my ignorance, but what is a fat quarter???

[ProfYaffle]

Picked up a piece of fabric in the haberdasher's yesterday. "Is that a fat quarter? Oh no, my mistake it's a full metre" says the man behind the counter.

????? wtf is a fat quarter?

I'm new to this sewing lark and finding the lingo impenetrable.

[ProfYaffle]

Oh I see, that's really useful thanks. Haberdasher man is a bit scary so I didn't like to ask him.

[ProfYaffle]

I live in the back of beyond, retail is at least 50 years behind the rest of the country. Shop assistants chat and everything (except haberdasher man)

[ProfYaffle]

He looks permanently pained. Does a heavy sigh when it becomes obvious I don't know what I'm talking about. He has a touch of the Norris Coles about him.

[ejt1764]

There's one just like that about 5 minutes walk from my house ... fatal for my credit card!

[Boco]

Sounds more like something from the hood if you ask me. Was he a player? Was he a ghetto crib gangsta? Was there any shit going down? Did he cut you a Phat quarter?

[ProfYaffle]

Is that haberdasher talk Boco? You probably know the shop I'm talking about.

[Boco]

It's not in my village is it? There's a total time warp of a shop here, it's great.

[ProfYaffle]

No, my town not a million miles away (we talked on another thread about Crocs in a timewarp department store). It's one of those weirdy little shops that sell everything, haberdashery, spray paint, bread bins, screws, those little dustpan and brush sets people keep by the fireplace, door mats, ant powder etc etc.

[Boco]

Oh i think i might know the one - is the haberdashery bit at the back? Bought some gingham for my dds playhouse curtains from there and it took hours as there was a whole queue of chatters, but a nice friendly lady, not a scary man.

[ProfYaffle]

That's the one, they've moved the haberdashers from the back to the side and that's when the man appeared (like in Mr Ben)

[dizzyday07]

A Fat Quarter is a term mostly used by quilters. It's size is 18" x 22". A full yard is 36" x 44" so you get 1/4 of a yard.