Still on the Jelly Roll

I recently have been using some Jelly Rolls.  I must confess that Elanore Burns is the one who made me do it!!  She had a great class in Paducah a couple of years ago that a couple of friends and I took and we made 3 quilts out of a Jelly Roll plus some coordinating pieces.  We had all picked up different colors and so all of our quilts turned out very differently.  I made the 3 quilts, one friend put hers together into 2 quilts and another put hers together into one quilt.  They all turned out great and so very different that no one would have realized they were all from the same basic beginning. 

Next I taught a class and everyone there put their quilts together differently and everyone had different fabrics and they all again turned out very unique. 

Well now I have bought another Jelly Roll, but didn't want to spend a lot of money on other fabric to go with it so I just picked up 1 color that went with all the fabrics, a tone on tone, and started my quilt.  I wanted something that would be easy and simple to make so I decided to make my own version of the "Fractions" Pattern.  I took my jelly roll fabrics and sewed a strip of the tone on tone down one side of each strip.  The Jelly Roll was 2 1/2" and I sewed a 1 1/2" strip of the background fabric.  Then I cut each strip into 3 1/2" rectangles.  Then I started sewing my pieced together.  I would pick out two pieces placing the jelly roll strips right sides together sewed the 3 1/2" side.  This made a nice rectangle with the background fabric on both sides and the jelly roll fabric in the middle, 6 1/2" wide and 3 1/2" in length.  I sewed all of the pieces together. 

Next I placed the pieces right sides together and sewed down the 6 1/2" side.  This gave me one block with the jelly roll pieces in the center, flanked by the background strip and a  6 1/2" square block.  After sewing all of the pieces together into the 6 1/2" square blocks I began joining the blocks.  I would place 1 block with the background strips horizontal and the next with the background strips vertical.   The worked up into a great little pattern and I just kept adding the blocks until I had used them all up in the top.

By alternating the placement of the blocks, it appears that each
block has a border.  Looks a lot harder than it was :)

As the quilt came together I decided that I wanted to put a triple border on this quilt so I picked up enough of one of the fabrics in the jelly roll to put a border around the quilt and then used the background color for the 2nd border and picked out another fabric in the Jelly Roll for the 3rd border. 



This quilt was super easy to make and was really a lot of fun.
Using the Jelly Roll really made this one easy.  The green was the only
fabric that was not in the fabric line but I'm thrilled with the
outcome.


It really doesn't take a lot of imagination to use a Jelly Roll and make a great quilt.  You can purchase patterns and/or books in a variety of places, or you can do as I did and decide to just sew it together in a pattern of your own choosing.

When I purchased my fabric and decided on the border fabric, I didn't really know the final size of the quilt.  Well, I sort of ran short of fabric on my last border.  I was sewing the last border on the week after the tornado hit Ringgold, GA and the local quilt shop was totally demolished.  I thought, on no, I'll never be able to find that fabric now.  (I'm really not into buying fabric off the internet even though I know I could if push came to shove.)  I rounded up every tiny scrap I had left and sewed them together.  The last border had about 20 pieces of fabric in the last 16" but the fabric was a print and it really didn't show.  Believe me when I say, I really sweated over that one!!  This will be my tornado quilt.

In memory of the tornado and those who lost so much, I quilted tornados in the corners of the quilt.  This quilt now has more than one special memory, the tornado, and my friend who inspired me by bringing her "Fractions" quilt to me for quilting.  My wonderful friends are a constant source of inspiration and I thank God for each and every one.

I hope everyone has a great day and gets to do some sewing or quilting this week.  Its a wonderful hobby that can produce some really great useable gifts.

Just a Quickie

I am forever and always hunting new ways to use up scraps or pieces of material left over from other projects and found another way to use up these pieces of material the other day.  Kay came by with a couple of quilts she had made for her sisters for their upcoming girls get away to the beach.  She came in with two lap size quilts that were just strips of fabric sewn together.  The strips were the width of the fabric and the they were cut in 6 1/2", 10 1/2", 11 1/2" and 12 1/2" strips.  These strips were then sewn together, edges were trimmed and then quilted and bound.  The quilts were as cute as they could be and Kay had chosen fabrics that represented her sisters and their likes and interest.  I thought these were just the cutest things and popped them on the quilting machine and finished them up for her in no time.  I mean it took like 30 minutes or less to put each one on the machine and quilt and take it off.  Kay shared that it took more time for her to pick the fabrics than any other part of the process.

Okay, so it's getting close to Christmas and I have all this fabric and not a lot of extra cash.  Gosh I have an absolute ton of fabric and since I typically buy yardage and not always fat quarters there has to be something there.  Okay Sandra loves the fall type stuff and leaves and I have some browns and greens that go together well and there are some of those leftover pieces of fabric that will go with that.  Okay this piece is the width of the fabric but not 6 1/2" in length, it's only 5 inches.  So what, I'll add another 1 1/2" to one of the other pieces, because this just goes so well!!  Wow that was easy.  I used a total of 9 strips of fabric with width of fabric and it turned out great.  Now what can I do about Rose??  Okay I know what she likes, she like oriental prints, yeah I have a lot of those because I like them too and I have one that has gold that I know she will like.  Another one finished in no time, and Bruce needs a manly one and I have this print with southwestern pottery and one with wagon wheels (not the cartoon style), gee these just all go together so well, and then there was one for mother, French Country Market are her colors.  In no time I had 8 quilts all put together and the best part, I used things I already had and didn't have any out of pocket expense in getting all these tops done.

Okay, now is the time for the out of pocket.  I decided I wanted to put a flannel back on them because those are the most cuddlie quilts, especially after they have been washed a few times, and this size is perfect to use on the sofa when watching tv and eating popcorn.  Then I, being the frugal person that I am known to be, thought, as the light bulb appeared over my head, "if I use the same backing on all I bet I can get a whole bolt and get the discount for emptying the bolt and 25% off is nothing to laugh away in these economic times.  Each quilt is 5 feet long and add a couple of inches to start and stop each one so 5 feet, 3 inches each comes out to about 42 feet of fabric divided by 3 means 14 yards of fabric.  I actually found 2 different pieces of fabric on the sale rack which was really cheaper than purchasing all that was left on the bolt of fabric.  I got the backing for less than $5 per yard which made these quilts very affordable for gift giving.  Everyone loved their quilts and my nephews wife asked if I would do a quilt for her two little girls.  Well I did the same type quilt for them using some fabrics I felt they would like and finally got to give them to the girls the other day.  They really liked their quilts.

Abi gave me a big hug for this.



Kayleigh really liked her quilt.

 So if you get stuck in a bind (no pun intended), these are really quick quilts you can make up out of what you have on hand.  They are wonderful gifts and no one will ever know they were your scraps.  Have a great day and remember God loves you!

This past week has seen the destruction of many homes and businesses and the loss of many lives throughout the southeastern United States.  Our local quilt store was completely destroyed by the tornado that hit Ringgold.  We are so saddened by the loss of life and the massive distruction.  People have been stepping forward and donating and trying to help in the clean up.  Makes me very proud to be a Southerner and an American.  If you have extra quilts, the people who have lost homes and literally everything they owned are in need.  These are really quick quilts to make and would be great to donate.  If you are not in the Southeast or don't know how to donate to those people, please look around you, there are people everywhere that are hurting, lonely, homeless, cold and heart sick.  A lap quilt could change their whole life.  There is nothing so precious as love that is shared.  If you are concerned that your hard work will go to an undeserving person let me share what a very special person once shared with me:  We are given a duty by God to feed the hungry and cloth the poor.  If we from the goodness in our heart give to someone who has said they are in need, then we have done as God commanded us to do, and if they are not truthful they are the ones who will have to stand before God and answer for those things.  God bless.