Jelly Roll Race

If you are looking for a fun, fast and easy quilt project---I may have just the thing for you!!!  The Jelly Roll Race (aka Jelly Roll 1600) is such a project.

A Jelly Roll is a set of 40, 2½" strips of fabric.  The strips are cut WOF (the width of the fabric) and are sold pre-cut, usually containing 1 each of a line of fabric by a designer or manufacturer.

After reading about this project, my friend and I wanted to make one --- NOW --- and did not want to wait to go shopping for Jelly Rolls so we created our own!!!  We gathered our fabrics and used our AccuQuilt machines to cut the 2½" strips to use in our projects.  She used 2 each of 20 different yellow and blue fabrics.  I used 1 each of 40 different frog themed fabrics.

There is nothing to measure, nothing to match and the entire 50" x 64" quilt top can be made in just a couple of hours!!!  You made add borders if you wish.

You begin by sewing all 40 strips together, end to end in a random order.  This creates a 1600" long piece!!!  Now trim 18" off of one end and put it in your scrap basket.   There are only five seams left to sew to finish the entire quilt.   Find the two ends of this long strip, put them right sides together and sew.  When you get close to the end...cut the fold and finish sewing the seam.  You now have a piece that is 800" long and 2 strips wide.   Put the two ends together and sew again to create a piece that is now 400" long and 4 strips.  Repeat this method and your piece will be 200" long and 8 strips wide.  The fourth seam will make it 100" long and 16 strips wide.  The fifth and final seam will give you a finished quilt top that is approximately 50" wide and 32 strips (approximately 64" long).

For more directions go to http://blog.heirloomcreations.net and have a blast!!!  You'll want to make several and each one will look very different from all the rest.

Happy Quilting,
Laurel