Calculated Industries Quilter's FabriCalc 8400 User manual

Quilt Design and Fabric
Estimating Calculator
Model 8400

INTRODUCTION
The new Quilter’s FabriCalc Design and
Fabric Estimating Calculator is perfect for
all of your design needs.
The Quilter’s FabriCalc easily calculates
your material yardage so you can focus on
creativity.
Your Calculator Helps You Solve:
• Quilt Fabric Yardage for any size or
style of quilt, including:
• Backing Yardage
• Border Yardage (mitered or straight
corners)
• Drop Yardage (mitered or straight
corners)
• Binding Yardage
• Yardage for various sizes of Blocks,
including Sashing, if needed.
• Yardage, cut sizes (including seam)
and number of strips to cut for various
sizes of Squares, including 1/2
Square and 1/4 Square Triangles.
• Yardage, cut sizes (including seam)
and number of strips to cut for 45˚
and 60˚ Diamonds.
• Also calculates number of Squares or
Diamonds that can be cut from any
size of fabric you want to use – make
the most of your “stash” of fabric.
• Easily keep track of how much fabric
you need for various colors of fabrics;
store up to six different types of fabrics.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
GETTING STARTED ....................................1
Basic Operation and Entry Keys ................1
Fabric Default Values..................................3
Yardage and Meterage Keys ......................4
Converting Fractional Yardage to
Decimal Yardage ..................................5
Converting Yardage to Meterage ............5
Dimensional Measurement Unit Keys ........6
Entering Linear Dimensions ....................6
Entering Area Dimensions........................7
Additional Functions....................................8
CALCULATING QUILT YARDAGE ..............9
Top and Backing Yardage ........................12
Standard Quilt Sizes ................................13
Quilt Top Length, Top Width,
Border and Drop ....................................14
Multiple Borders........................................17
CALCULATING BLOCK YARDAGE ..........22
Blocks (Square-Shaped),
Including Sashing ..................................26
Blocks (Rectangular-Shaped),
No Sashing ............................................28
Calculating the Block’s Diagonal ..............30
CALCULATING YARDAGE FOR
SQUARES, TRIANGLES
AND DIAMONDS......................................31
Number Entries ........................................34
Length and Area Entries ..........................34
Yardage Required for a
Number of Squares................................35
Number of Squares Calculated
From Fabric (“Stash”) ............................37
Number of Squares Calculated
From Fabric (Length)..............................39
Yardage Required for Corner and Side
Triangles................................................40

FABRIC STORAGE ....................................42
Storing Yardage for Multiple Fabrics ........44
MEMORY OPERATION ..............................46
Basic Cumulative Memory (M+)
Example..................................................47
CALCULATING COST OF MATERIAL ........48
Fabric Cost Example ................................48
UNIT CONVERSIONS................................ 49
Converting Fractional Inches to
Decimal Inches ......................................49
Converting Inches to Centimeters,
Millimeters ................................................49
Area Conversions......................................50
BASIC MATH ..............................................51
Adding Values ..........................................51
Subtracting Values....................................51
Multiplying Values ....................................52
Dividing Values..........................................53
Percentage Calculations ..........................54
APPENDIX A — DEFAULT SETTINGS......55
Reset Function..........................................55
APPENDIX B —
PREFERENCE SETTINGS ......................56
How to Set Preferences............................56
Accessing Preference Settings ................56
APPENDIX C —
IMPORTANT NOTES FOR OWNERS OF
PREVIOUS FABRICALCS ......................58
APPENDIX D —
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS ................62
Battery ......................................................62
Battery Replacement Instructions ............62
APPENDIX E — ACCURACY, ERRORS
AND AUTO SHUT-OFF ............................64
Accuracy/Errors ........................................64
Auto Shut-Off ............................................65
APPENDIX F - REPAIR AND RETURN......66
WARRANTY................................................67
INDEX..........................................................70

U SER ’ S G UIDE — 1
GETTING STARTED
Your calculator is designed to work
with common fabric measurements for
easy calculation of various quilt
requirements.
Your calculator is defaulted to display
the calculated results in fractional for-
mat. You can also set your calculator
to display in decimal or metric format
(see Preference Settings for details
on how to change formats).
Basic Operation and Entry Keys
N— On/Clear Key
Turns on power. Pressing once
clears the display. Pressing twice
clears all temporary values.
F— Off Key
Turns all power off, clearing all
entered Quilt, Block, and Square
values. Your calculator is also
designed to shut itself off after about
8-12 minutes of non-use.
+-x÷=
Arithmetic operation keys. See
Basic Math section for details.

U SER ’ S G UIDE — 2
%
Four-function (+, –, x, ÷) percent
key. See Percent Calculations sec-
tion for details.
0– 9and •
Keys used for entering digits.
/— Fraction Bar
Used to enter fractions. Fractions
may be entered as proper (1/2, 1/3,
1/4, 1/8) or improper (7/6, 9/3). They
will be displayed in 1/8, 1/4, 1/3, or
1/2 increments. You can also use /
to toggle between fractional and
decimal displays.
c
Used to convert between units of
measure or access secondary
functions.
c /
Used to round decimal values to the
nearest quilter’s fraction. Also used to
round yardage values up to the clos-
est fractional value if the decimal
yardage exceeds the closest fraction-
al equivalent by 0.01 Yard. See
Appendix C for details on Fractional
Rounding.

U SER ’ S G UIDE — 3
R
Used for recalling entered or stored
values.
Fabric Default Values
These keys are used for storing values
used for proper calculation of fabric
Yardage.
c+— Seam
Stores the Seam width (default:
1/4 Inch). This value is used in the
material functions for proper material
calculations (e.g., 1 / 4 i c
+).
c 8 — Binding Cut
Stores the Binding Cut Width
(default: 2 1/2 Inches). This value is
used in the Binding calculation found
in the Total Quilt Yardage function
(e.g., 2 i 1 / 2 c 8).
This value should be stored with
seam allowance included in the
stored value (no seam allowance
adjustments are made to the
Binding calculations).

U SER ’ S G UIDE — 4
c-— Fabric Width
Stores the Fabric Width (default: 40
Inches). This value is used in all of
the material functions for providing
the proper Yardage based on the
stored Fabric Width (e.g., 40i
c -).
c÷— Backing +
Stores the Backing Overage
(default: 4 Inches). This value is
used in the Backing calculation
found in the Quilt Yardage function,
and is added to all four sides of the
quilt to accommodate the extra
material needed for the quilting
process (e.g., 4 i c ÷).
Yardage and Meterage Keys
y— Yardage
Enters or converts to
Yardage (lin-
ear Yards
). Yardage is based on the
stored Fabric Width (default is 40
Inches). Also used with the /key
for entering fractional Yardage val-
ues (e.g., 4y1/2).
Note: Repeated presses after c toggle
between fractional and decimal values (e.g.,
4
y 1 / 2 c y
converts to 4.5 linear Yards
(“yardage”); press
y again to return to fractional
Yardage).

U SER ’ S G UIDE — 5
m—Meterage
Enters or converts to linear
Meters .
Meterage is based on the stored
Fabric Width (default is 40 Inches,
but you may store any Fabric Width
desired e.g., 1 Meter).
Convert Fractional Yardage to
Decimal Yardage
Convert 8-1/8 Yards to Decimal Yards.
Then convert back to Fractional Yards.
KEYSTROKE DISPLAY
N N 0.
8y1/8 8-1/8 YD
c y 8.125 YD
c y 8-1/8 YD
Convert Yardage to Meterage
Convert 8-1/8 Yards to Meterage.
KEYSTROKE DISPLAY
N N 0.
8y1/8 8-1/8 YD
c m 7.430 M

U SER ’ S G UIDE — 6
Dimensional Measurement Unit Keys
The following keys are used for entering
units of measure, with ease and accuracy:
i— Inch
Enters or converts to
Inches . Also used
with the /key for entering fractional
Inch values (e.g., 9i1/2).
Note: Repeated presses after c toggle
between fractional and decimal Inches (e.g.,
9
i 1 / 2 c i
converts to 9.5 Inch; press
i again to return to Inch-Fractions).
ç— Centimeters
Enters or converts to
Centimeters .
c 9 — Millimeters
Enters or converts to
Millimeters .
Entering Linear Dimensions
When entering fractional values for
Inches, identify your entry by using
the ikey
. Enter fractions by
entering the numerator (top), pressing
/(fraction bar key) and then the
denominator (bottom). Press Nafter
each example.
INCH KEYSTROKE
5 Inch 5 i
5-1/2 Inches 5 i 1 / 2
5.5 Inches 5•5i