Thursday, January 26, 2012

the fastest quilt top ever.....

well, that is the premise anyway!!  
the jelly roll 1600 quilt is comprised of a bundle of coordinating fabric pre-cut into 2 1/2 inch wide by 44 inch long strips. this is called a jelly roll.  fabric stores sell them and they run anywhere from $35 to $45 dollars.  
but with all of the lovely vintage fabric i have amassed, i cut my own strips.  so that took some time...
and then sewing them together end to end (40 of them) took some time too. 18 inches is cut off of one end.  this assures that there will be a random pattern when they are sewn together.
the resulting strip measured about 2 . 5 inches by 1600 inches.  you then join the short ends, right sides together, which is now 800 inches, and sew along the long end.  that took a really long time because it took forever to join the short ends without any twists.  it was 1600 inches long...
when you get to the fold, you cut it and join the two short ends up again 
which makes it 400 inches long. 
 this is repeated three (or four, i don't remember) more times until you are left 
with this....a cool quilt top that measures about 48 x 64 inches...
once the first side was sewn, it went pretty fast from there, about an hour and a half...
the only thing left to do is to add the batting and backing and quilt it....
                    this is the result....

 another pretty vintage sheet quilt.   now i know that most (all) of my quilts  have been some sort of strip quilt but they are the ones that go together the quickest.  i am going to attempt something different next time though.  stay tuned!!  :)

35 comments:

Musings Of A Gem said...

I love it!! I think I will make a strip quilt next time (not sure when though!).

You must have quite a collection of quilts now?

X

Georgianna said...

Wow! This is amazing! So pretty!

I'm impressed – you always have something new and you actually finish projects!

Have a great weekend, my friend.

xo – g

Amy Chalmers said...

I like it! Very pretty~I want to do some quilted patchwork stitching, but am too lazy right now...

Anonymous said...

1.) You have the best vintage sheet collection. Ever. My parents had that blue set with the white daisies, and it was always my favorite.

2.) About how many sheets would you guess that this quilt took to make?

3.) When you quilted it together, did you just sew next to the straight seems?

I'd eventually love to make one of these for our queen size bed. :-)

Redfly Classroom said...

Beautiful! I love the modern feel using the old sheets!

Melissa
redflycreations.blogspot.com

Annette - MyRoseValley said...

Clever. Very beautiful indeed. Well done.:D Annette

logbuji said...

Your website is great. I had to leave a comment about the sheets in this quilt. My parents had the pink and yellow flower sheets. And then I see the back of the quilt and I had that sheet when I was growing up!! I always find fun and colorful sheets/pillowcases at the thrift store. Thanks for the great idea.

Lisa said...

I just wanted to let you know that i love all the quilts you make. You are a amazing sewer and artist.

Denver said...

There is nothing magic about 2.5 inch strips. If you are cutting your own, you could easily cut 3 or 3.5 inch strips and come out with a longer quilt. A 64 inch long quilt has limited usefulness, perhaps a baby quilt that can last into toddler years. But most adults find 64 inches too short. Also you can use more than 40-42 strips and your quilt will end up wider. If you started with 60 strips your sequence would go 2400, 1200, 600, 300, 75. Using 3.5 inch strips in this sequence would give you 32 rows of 3 inch strips which would make your quilt 75 by 96, which is far more useful.

Unknown said...

Sew sorry you were having one of "those " days, deciding you needed to share that and chose not to be very kind in how you expressed your words. Thank you though for the information as many of us need help in doing the math! Enjoy this day!

LindaC said...

Are vintage sheets all cotton or a poly/cotton mix and do you have to then wash all the fabric first if you mix and match?

Anonymous said...

Great answer. Most of us realize that the 2.5 inch strips represent the usual size of a jelly roll and as such help us figure out how many jelly rolls it would take to achieve the size quilt we want. Unknown must have felt we were not bright enough to figure this out on our own. I really appreciate your tutorial and am anxious to try it myself. Thank you!!!

Anonymous said...

Sorry that should have said Denver, not unknown.

alicia brasesco said...

Hermoso lo que has hecho, gracias!! Saludos cordiales desde Uruguay

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing the quilt pattern! I love it! 💖

Anonymous said...

Wow. I've always wondered how to make a strip quilt. This looks like so much fun. Thank you for sharing!

NANCY said...

Good morning, If I wanted to make a king size quilt using this method, how would I go about it? 76x80--I am new to quilting and this looks like I could do it. I do love your quilt.

Anonymous said...

So you cut 18" off after you've sewn the 2.5" strips together, or basically 18" off the last strip you added?

Anonymous said...

You would cut the first strip in half or whatever inches you prefer , ie. 18 inches . Then as you sew the strips it creates the random pattern.if you don’t cut the strip it would all line up evenly

Anonymous said...

I made two of these, you dont have to worry aboutthe twist. Just cut it when you get to the end. I did one with a real roll, and one with scrapes.

Anonymous said...

Your comments are right on. T.y.

Anonymous said...

Thanks. I appreciate that you shared this

Anonymous said...

I was thinking the same thing that she has ( a Lot) of vintage sheets. I never find any in our thrift stores. Cindy are you in a large town or close to one? This quilt is beautiful and I have to make one even if not from the sheets.

Anonymous said...

Just think how absolutely soft and cuddly it would be!!! LUSH!

Kathy said...

Hello! How did you add the batting? Beautiful Quilt! Love your pics!!!!

shaunacd said...

Think of doing this by sewing the strips, stitch and flip, meaning, Cut backing the size quilt you want, cut a batting a little bigger, and spread that over the backing - spray a little - very lightly - spray adhesive to keep batting and backing together. Then sew the strips, starting probably in the middle with two strips, right sides together. Press open, and add another strip to one side all the way to the edge, then turn and add strips to the other side. This way, your quilt is sewn and quilted all at once, just square up and bind. What a pretty quilt!

Anonymous said...

I could be wrong but I think it’s 18 inches off the very first strip..

Anonymous said...

Great idea!

Anonymous said...

I wasnt sure with all the flowers, but it is actually very pretty made up!

Anonymous said...

Great idea!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love the quilt! I hope to make one also.

Anonymous said...

Too funny! I had the pink flowered sheet when I was younger! Had another set in yellow also!

Anonymous said...

Stunning work; the quilt is so lovely…
Marge from Brisbane Australia

Anonymous said...

the strip quilt came out very pretty and a "1600 quilt" made with jelly roll strips or self-cut strips is the usual size for these quilts. I only have one small comment or suggestion about how it is made. In the past, and especially when I was new to quilting, I always saw instructions that called for the seams between strips to be on a diagonal--that is, one strip horizontal and face (or "pretty side") up, the next one laid vertical and face down, aka right sides together, then sewn across the corner where they meet. I was told that this is stronger than a straight seam between the strips. However, after that, I have seen more quilts where the seams are straight, like yours. Sometimes there is a small block between the seams, as in Jenny Doan (of Missouri Star Quilt Co)'s Jelly Roll Race, version 2. But I do like yours, and thank you for making the instructions
available for those of us who want to make a quilt like this.

Anonymous said...

There are so many reproduction fabrics out there that match these perfectly. Use those. Vintage sheets will fall apart after a few washings. Not all quilt owners take care of purchased quilts like a quilt maker will. Beauties though.

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