Scrappy Rainbows / Beauties Pageant 287

I’m interrupting my deep dive into all things jelly rolls and the upcoming book release to report on some squirrel chasing. Early in the process of writing patterns and sewing samples for Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts, I made a quilt for my older son because, I figured, what’s one more quilt when I had already committed to completing 14 of them?! But one more quilt is one more quilt, and I quickly resolved to focus solely on the book projects. There was simply no time for squirrels. 

All of that changed once the book was put to bed at the end of last year. I found some big, rainbow-colored squirrels to chase. What you see here is the result: one of the four rainbow colored-pencil rolls I made in the past few months.

I’m convinced that everyone loves a good rainbow* and that anything rainbow is a worthwhile sew. These projects supported that theory! 

Finding 24 fabrics that match perfectly with the 24 colors in a box of Crayola colored pencils, however, is no small feat, so I never sew just one roll—I always make multiple.

I originally made a set of these pencil rolls over 10 years ago, keeping one for myself. I suspect I’ll return to this pattern again, so Future Michelle, these notes are for you: 

• Use a little spray baste to keep all the layers stacked up nicely
• Remember to sew a scant quarter-inch seam, especially if you plan to press seams to one side
• Give yourself some extra wiggle room on the two end colors

The pattern can be found in Joelle Hoverson’s Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts, one of the first quilting books I ever bought and one that’s now out of print. The standalone pattern is available from the designer, Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk Studios, here.

* Back in February, and on a lark, I made a reel of my disembodied hands putting the colored pencils in the slots of a completed roll, and it went viral. 

Last I checked, it had been viewed more than 600K times. See? People really are crazy about rainbows!

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Strip Sets for the Win! / Beauties Pageant 286

This post features projects from my upcoming book Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts!

You’ve heard me waxing on about jelly rolls, and you may be wondering why I’m not compelled to work with a different precut, like layer cakes. I love a good layer cake, and a few of the patterns in my book can probably even be made with a layer cake’s 10-inch squares instead of a jelly roll’s 2.5-inch strips. But there’s one thing a jelly roll can do that no layer cake can, and that is produce big, time-saving strip sets.

You’ve likely made strips sets for other patterns. It’s the process of sewing jelly roll strips together along the long edges and then cutting the resulting set into smaller units to resew in different configurations. When I’m working with jelly rolls, I leverage the power of strip sets whenever I can—it’s simply a more efficient way to sew. 

Two quilts from my book that employ this technique are Butterfly Season and Myriad ...

Butterfly Season

Quilts take a long time to make, so I take advantage of every shortcut I can. In Butterfly Season, that means strip piecing the wings of each butterfly and strip-piecing the butterflies’ bodies. 

Plus, setting the time-saving benefits aside, there’s something super satisfying about sewing together these strips and then cutting crisp, pristine units from them.

Butterfly Season requires a full jelly roll and produces a twin-size quilt.

Jelly roll: Beautiful Day by Corey Yoder for Moda

Background fabric: Moda Bella Solids in Off-White

Batting: Warm and White

Finished size: 77.5" x 90.5"

Pieced by Michelle Cain; quilted by Ophelia Chang 

Myriad

Strip sets are the foundation of Myriad, a generously sized throw quilt that I sewed with a line of Kate Spain batiks. 

Again, relying on the strip-set technique here makes the quilt-making process go faster. It also produces less waste than if the pieces were sewn into rectangles and then cut into the necessary half-hexagons.

Myriad may look difficult, but in the end, it requires sewing columns of equilateral triangles together. Easy peasy!

Jelly roll: Confection Batiks by Kate Spain for Moda

Background fabric: Moda Bella Solids in White

Batting: Warm and White

Finished size: 64.5" x 83.75"

Pieced by Michelle Cain; quilted by Ophelia Chang 

You can preorder my book here!

 

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That's a Jelly Roll Quilt? / Beauties Pageant 285

This post features projects from my upcoming book Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts!

I love jelly rolls. Those beautiful spirals of 2.5-inch strips get me every time. Bundled together, they’re just the right amount of fabric—often enough for one quilt, maybe one quilt and a small project. Plus, they’re available at a good price point, and they’re super stashable.

As I set out to design a collection of jelly roll patterns, I knew I had to do something different. I wanted to push the envelope with what I could create with 2.5-inch strips, offering quilters truly unique options for using their precuts. I think I succeeded! In fact, the collection of designs I created is so different from others on the market that I gave it the name Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts.  

Over the next month and a half, I’ll show you all 14 of the samples from the book. I hope doing so will have you reaching for the jelly rolls in your own stash and inspire you to make something beautiful with them.
 
Some of the patterns keep those long strips as long strips in the finished quilt top. Others sew the strips together lengthwise and then cut them into smaller units, like rectangles or half-hexies, to resew. Still others strive to use as many of the square inches each 2.5-inch strip offers as possible, and those are the quilts I’ll highlight today. I think you’ll agree that they live up to the title Not-Your Typical Jelly Roll Quilts.

Tag Sale Floral

The patterns in my book span the spectrum from wall hangings and runners to bed-size quilts. I wanted people to be able to pick up the book and find something that suited the fabric they have on hand. Because sometime you might have an unopened jelly roll to sew with, and other times you may have part of a roll leftover after sewing something else.

Consider Tag Sale Floral. It’s one of those projects that doesn’t require a full roll. I’d go one step further and say you don’t need a jelly roll at all. If you enjoy assembling fabric pulls on your own, you could dive into your stash and cut the 22 width-of-fabric strips this pattern requires. 

The result is a small quilt, perfect for draping over a table or hanging on the wall.

Photo copyright © 2025 by C&T Publishing

Jelly roll: Lady Bird by Crystal Manning for Moda

Background fabric: Moda Bella Solids in Porcelain

Batting: Warm and White

Finished size: 43.5" x 43.5"

Pieced and quilted by Michelle Cain

Step Dance 

I consider myself a modern-traditional gal, and I enjoy putting a new spin on the classics. Step Dance is my tribute to an Irish chain quilt. Like my Irish Twist, this pattern focuses on the space between the chains. I love how it plays with directionality, placing some of the jelly roll pieces horizontally and others vertically. I think it’s a pattern that can suit modern fabric collections as well as more traditional lines.

Styled photography by Melanie Zacek; photo copyright © 2025 by C&T Publishing

Jelly roll: Vintage by Sweetwater for Moda

Background fabric: Moda Bella Solids in Porcelain

Batting: Warm and White

Finished size: 50.5" x 62.5"

Pieced by Michelle Cain; quilted by Ophelia Chang

Lucky Medallion

I don’t think anyone would look at Lucky Medallion and guess it’s a jelly roll quilt, but every bit of it  can be sewn with width-of-fabric strips. The result is a generous throw. This pattern requires more than the 40 strips found in standard jelly rolls, but I go into detail how to augment your strips with selections from your stash. I also imagine going all-out scrappy with this design, raiding the greens in my stash for all those four-leaf clovers and the yellows for the stars. Maybe there’s another Lucky Medallion in my future!

Photo copyright © 2025 by C&T Publishing

 Jelly roll: Country Rose by Lella Boutique for Moda

Background fabric: Moda Bella Solids in Off-White

Batting: Warm and White

Finished size: 80.5" x 80.5"

Pieced by Michelle Cain; quilted by Ophelia Chang

You can preorder my book here!

 

Through Thursday, March 13, you can preorder my book, Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts, and get two PDF patterns free.

 

The preorder listing details how to place your order and get your free patterns.

Those patterns will be available for immediate download from an email that you’ll receive momentarily (check your spam folder if it doesn’t appear in your inbox after a few minutes). The book is slated to ship at the end of April 2025 via USPS.

Quilters outside of the US: The cost of international shipping is ridiculous! As a result, this preorder is limited to US mailing addresses. Just because you live elsewhere on this planet, however, doesn’t mean you should miss out! Drop me a note (frombolttobeauty@gmail.com) after preordering or purchasing the book locally, and I will hook you up with your free patterns. : )

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The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.