Sew a Jelly Roll Day

Firstly, *a Jelly Roll (not the dessert kind) is a bundle of fabric strips measuring 2.5” wide by 44” long, generally containing 40 strips rolled up to look like a jelly roll.

For our first quilt, let’s go right back to Make Modern Issue 1 with Pavement Puddles Quilt by Melissa Gottliebsen. This quilt uses 30 jelly roll strips and triangle piecing to create a beautiful quilt that is inspired by puddles just after a rain storm. Melissa used Horizon by Kate Spain for her feature fabric and peppered cotton by Studio E for the background.

Next is Ribbon Rings Quilt by Cathy Victor from Make Modern Issue 21. This stunning quilt makes fantastic use of value and solids, and is easily constructed with jelly roll strips. It also works well with prints, so is perfect for that roll you’ve been stashing. Cathy created the pattern in four sizes and gives us the maths for each. Cathy chose to make two versions of this quilt (both shown) – a dark version using the Dusty Palette Roll Up by Kona Cotton solids, and Kona Black for the background, and a light version uses the Elizabeth Hartman Paintbox Solids Roll Up by Kona Cotton solids, and Kona White for the background.

Our third quilt is Rainbow Paint Can Quilt by Anne Boundy from Make Modern Issue 22. This fun modern rainbow quilt was inspired by dried paint drips on an old paint can and is cleverly constructed to make it double-sided. Anne used Karen Lewis’ Blueberry Park brights for Robert Kaufman. However, she suggests that it would also look fantastic in V & Co’s Ombre Confetti for Moda Fabrics. Click here to read Anne’s blog post about her design process.

Riding the River Rapids Quilt by Rachel Julia from Make Modern Issue 29 is a very popular choice for Sew a Jelly Roll Day. We’ve heard from a few quilt groups who used this pattern to make quilts for charity. They had a jelly roll race!  This fabulous quilt uses a jelly roll in rainbow hues (Karen Lewis’ Blueberry Park), with an effective placement of negative space, to create a fun quilt that’s quick to piece and great for the sofa.

And last, but certainly not least, is the Boxed In Quilt by Kelli Marshall from Make Modern Issue 41. If you’re looking for a fabulous, fast throw quilt that you can piece quickly, this is the perfect design. Made from 33 jelly roll strips, it pieces together quickly for a gorgeous scrappy finish. The look of the quilt will change depending on the fabric collection you choose, making it a great design for gift quilts. Kelli used fabrics from the Heirloom and Add It Up collections by Ruby Star Society for Moda Fabrics.