Scrappy Jelly Roll Race Remix
I am always on the lookout for quick ways to use my scraps and create beautiful quilts at the same time. I decided I would use the long strip method of traditional Jelly Roll Race quilts but do a Remix and throw in some twists and use my scraps. Voila! Scrappy Jelly Roll Race Remix was born. I was thrilled with how the first quilt came out, so quickly began a 2nd one. Then the creative juices really turned on and I kept asking myself, “what if” and again, “what if”. And so it began.
In this class, you will not only flip the classic jelly roll race quilt on its head with easy creative twists, but you’ll learn about combining fabrics for a unified whole. You’ll get a pattern that not only explains how to make multiple sizes of a Scrappy Jelly Roll Race Quilt, but also has patterns for using “made” fabric from your strips. There’s even a You Be the Designer section so that you can leverage your own creativity and bring your unique quilts to life.
So what were these “what ifs”? The first was using warm, high contrast 2 ½” wide scrap strips with cool blue inserts between the scrappy strips. 2nd was using cool, high contrast scraps with warm orange inserts. These quilts are included in the pattern for the class.
Next I thought about using the “made” fabric from the strips to surround a fun novelty fabric to make a baby quilt. I pulled the scrap fabrics from the colors in the novelty fabric and used partial seams to border the print with the “made” fabric, like a Bright Hopes block. I came up with an easy to use formula to determine how long my beginning strip should be.
This went so well that I tried it again, but in a rectangular format. Still successful! This quilt is included in the pattern for the class.
What about using a focus fabric and making a strippy quilt? I pulled scraps that blended with the focus fabric and quickly designed a layout. I think the strips really look like bamboo leaves next to the panda fabric. This quilt is included in the pattern for the class.
Then I decided to use smaller scraps (1 ½” wide) and “made” fabric to use as blocks. I used these in a large 9 patch baby quilt alongside some orphan blocks from two different panels. I used up loads of scraps and the blocks were much more interesting than large pieces of fabric.
Then I wondered – could I use larger scraps? Part of what helped the scraps blend was the relatively small amount of each fabric. I thought to keep cohesion, I would need to have similar color and value. I “made” fabric from 3 ½” strips that were medium-dark blue and 3 ½” strips that were light yellow. I then cut large triangles from the “made” fabric, laid them out in a Jester format and sewed them together. This quilt is included in the pattern for the class with multiple different layouts.
I came up with two more designs using 3 ½” wide strips and made two more quilts. I like the arrow effect.
Lastly, I designed and made a heart baby quilt with 2 ½” strips.
All in all, I made 10 different quilts using this fun and easy technique. I made each of the quilt tops in just a few hours.
I developed this class to enable others to not only learn the basic Jelly Roll Race technique, but to also turn on their own creativity and design their own quilts using this technique. I have also included tips on how to combine scraps to create a unified whole and have several videos describing my fabric pulls. The pattern includes instructions for multiple sizes for Scrappy Jelly Roll Race quilts, and instructions for the Strippy Quilt, rectangular Bright Hopes baby quilt and Jester triangle quilt. I also include the easy math formula for determining the starting length of sewn strips to create your own design.
Thinking about the “what ifs” really energized my quilting – I hope this class does the same for you!
Blog post by Julia Graves.
