When I finished my Craftsy Block of the Month quilt one of my commenters called V from sometimesshesews.blogspot.com introduced me to the notion of a jelly roll race and provided me with this link to youtube as I’d never heard of it before.
So basically all the pieces sewn end to end in to one long strip then the long ends of the strips sewn together again, and and again and again until you have a quilt.
Erm , hello, I LOVE that idea!
The roll I used is sweet tooth by Benartex which is all sweetie themed – I do LOVE sweets! I bought it from the Missouri Star Quilt company – my Dad was visiting from the USA so got it sent to his address. Sadly I would not recommend this company at all, terrible communication and service. I digress…
Sadly I have nobody to race so I have called it a jelly roll frenzy. What brilliant fun! So quick! Sometimes it can feel like when you do anything labelled ‘sewing’ you actually spend a considerable amount of time doing other things like cutting, planning, pinning, ironing etc – this is just pure unadulterated SEWING! I simply loved making this quilt top! I think everyone should have a jelly roll in the cupboard so you can whip one of these babies up when you just need some mindless escapism at your sewing machine.
I sashed with a pinky polka-dot and bound in a gorgeous sunshine orange. The backing was big fat magenta polka dots. I finally got round to watching the free craftsy course on creative quilt backs (need to review that) and used the technique to match large prints. Worked really well – can you see the join?
More Craftsy I’m afraid… I recently bought free-motion fillers by Leah Day as one of my Christmas presents from my Dad -he got me a gift voucher for three classes. Again, must review when I’ve finished it. I found a lovely pattern in lesson three “independent designs” named “basic spiral”. I thought it looked like swirly sweets so it fitted with the fabric perfectly. Frankly the quilting leaves something to be desired and is a bit clunky but from a distance it has the effect I wanted.
I love the finished article and am really peased with the size, this is just perfect for snuggling on the sofa. Sadly, I think the overall effect is a bit too little girl with the sweets and the pink. I am considering giving it away, but I really love it – clearly there is still a little girl very much inside and not even attempting to get out!
Oh, and I’m not the only one who likes it…
Over to you:
Have you ever done a jelly roll race?
Have you made something which hasn’t turned out how you thought, but you love it anyway?
Any other little ideas like the jelly roll race I can try?!
Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!
**all views are my own and I get no affiliate income from this**
Hanny Bobbins 
Oooo! I’m glad you tried it! It looks fabulous!!
Thanks for the idea – it really was a great project!
I am not over the Jelly Roll Race, but I don’t think it’s enough to be a quilt. My last two Jelly Roll Race quilts, I did the Jelly Roll in all grey’s, then I added something to the quilt. One quilt I appliqued a duck over the Jelly Roll, the second time I added a braid through the quilt. Both quilts turned out very good and I loved how the Jelly Roll made a good background.
I think I got away with that due to the busyness of the print on this occasion, but I think you are right – a less arresting print would need something else. Applique is a great idea. I want to try that now…!
What a great quilt! I think the problem for me would be sitting under it and resisting the urge to eat tons of real sweets!
Sadly – I don’t even resist most of the time!! Thanks for leaving me a comment.
I only recently completed a jelly roll race quilt and I love it! Your backing is fabulous (I LOVE polka dots!) – I can’t see the join at all!! I really like the latest Moda Bake Shop recipe by live.love.sew – perfect for a jelly roll!
You know, that is the best use of a jelly roll I have seen yet! Will have to do that! Thank you for the idea 🙂 Love your polka a dot backing 🙂
This is gorgeous. I love it. Visiting from sew many ways
I never used a yelly roll, but when I see your beautiful quilt I certainly give it a try! Beautiful!
More than once it is not like I planned! Yesterday I made a mini quilt. By the light of a lamp I thougt it was awful. But this morning by daylight I was very happy with the colors!
I think time can be a great healer in projects – often I’ve chucked stuff in a box to find it months later and like it!!
My small quilt group has been planning to do this quilt. I don’t intend to do the race part! I am intrigued by the quilts I have seen so far. Love yours!
Ooh I’d love to be part of a quilt guild! You can do it like me – a frenzy not a race!