Friday, September 15, 2017

Anticipating National Sew a Jelly Roll Day

Have you heard? Moda has dubbed tomorrow National Sew a Jelly Roll Day. This is right up my alley. I have a history of stashing those beautiful precuts:


Despite those finishes, all from the past two years, I still have jelly rolls in my stash! National Sew a Jelly Roll Day is motivating me to change that. In fact, I have a jelly roll tutorial that will debut later this month. It’s a follow-up to my Ridiculously Easy Jelly Roll Quilt, and I’m calling it my Still Pretty Simple Jelly Roll Quilt.

Today, though, I have a jelly roll finish to share with you, my Warm and Cool Coin Quilt ...

This is my own design. If I had to do it again, I would make the
diagonal line thicker. Right now, that line mocks me every time
I look at the quilt!

I cut the strips from a jelly roll of Denyse Schmidt’s Franklin fabrics into shorter 5½-inch lengths. Some of them I used as is, without cutting them down further. I trimmed others width-wise until I had a good variety of shapes. This was all done improvisationally, without measuring or worrying whether I was cutting the fabric at right angles, which created a pleasant wonkiness.

I separated these bits of fabric into warm and cool colors and started sewing them together. After that I paper-pieced the blocks divided by the white diagonal line and assembled the top. Then this project sat for almost a year, without even being basted.

The back features more Denyse Schmidt fabrics. Typical Michelle move!

Usually I procrastinate quilting a project because I love it as a quilt top and I don’t want the quilting to mess things up. In this case, I was feeling pretty blah-de-blah about the project until I started the quilting. I took a cue from Jacquie Gering’s new book—Walk, which I highly recommend—and started with an all-over grid. Then I went back and quilted diamonds inside that grid.

This project, with its vast negative space needed something more than my usual straight-line quilting. The texture that Jacquie’s approach creates is what transforms this quilt into something special.

Well, hello fancy-for-me quilting!

This quilt is going to a good friend. I hope that she doesn’t read my blog and this quilt will be a surprise!

The subtle stripe, also from the Franklin collection, frames this project nicely.

Do you have a relationship with jelly rolls? Fess up: How many are in your stash?!

Linking up to Let’s Bee Social and Finish It Up Friday ...

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11 comments:

  1. That line of negative space dividing the warm and cool colors is powerful! The quilting looks great, too. Are you planning on working with any jelly rolls tomorrow?

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  2. This quilting is YUM. SUPER YUM. And I've never ever owned a jelly roll. Is that totally crazy?

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  3. I like that quilt a lot! I don't have a stash of jelly rolls, just a couple of junior ones a friend sent me, I think. I do, however, cut leftovers into 2.5 inch strips, and I have about half a shoebox of those that I use in projects from time to time. They are fun elements to integrate into quilts.

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  4. I love everything about that quilt... and I need to try that quilting pattern on something! Fabulous job!

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  5. i like this quilt. It's great that you had a jelly roll that split so nicely into warm and cold colours. I had a fun time getting lost in your older posts on Jelly rolls.

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  6. Your quilt is very unique and the fabric is just perfect for this design. Congrats on a beautiful finish.

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  7. Simple, Chic and Unique. Love it. Suggest entering it into the Bloggers Quilt Festival.

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  8. I love your design. Very striking and I like that you have the cools on one side and the warm on the other. micki@2dogsstudio.us

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  9. Love it Michelle, what a great job on the quilting. This fabric is perfect with the warm/cool design. Wonderful work!

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  10. This is so cool! I love the warm vs. cool separation and the quilting is lovely. :)

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  11. I really like this! Well done. I missed jelly roll day -- did a 5K race and then officiated at a wedding. Missed out on sewing that weekend.

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