National Sew a Jelly Roll Day… It’s Coming… Hooray!!
Back in 2006, Moda Fabrics came up with a genius product, the Jelly Roll. This year, we are going to celebrate 15 years of these yummy mixtures from the Moda Bake Shop.
On a side note, have you ever noticed that Moda is all about baking? They have Honey Buns, Layer Cakes, Cakemix Recipes, and the ever-so-popular Jelly Rolls. All yummy too!
Sewing Jelly Rolls Quilting Strips
These precuts, the Jelly Rolls are popular with beginners and experts in quilting. And frankly everyone in between. I bet you have had a Jelly Roll before… heck you might even have one now.
But since the Jelly Roll quilting fabrics are strip-sized with a width of 2,5”, it can be a challenge to find a good pattern for them. But it sure is fun to look for ideas and tutorials to use these goodie rolls, right?
Once you’ve found a Jelly Roll pattern to your liking, you may be wondering how to line up your fabric with those pinked edges. Moda has a great post on their blog which answers that question. It also explains in a tutorial how to sew four-patches. If you want to read more about Jelly Rolls, there are more articles on the Moda blog to be found under the category Jelly Roll.
Jelly Roll Quilting Patterns by Zen Chic
But before you can take out your sewing machine, you still need that fun, beautiful, and perfect pattern for your Jelly Roll. And you’re in luck, because in honor of National Sew a Jelly Roll Day 2021, I pulled my patterns perfect for a Jelly Roll and put them in the spotlights here.
Pure
Our most recent Jelly Roll pattern is featuring the Dance in Paris line and it’s called Pure.
It’s not sewn on paper, you just get a template to cut out those triangles for the zig-zag strip to bring it all together.
The Jelly Roll gives you the complete variety of a collection to make these little minimalistic zig-zag strips. Very playful, very colorful!
London Blues
I created the original London Tube for my very first quilt market together with Moda in 2012 using my collection Juggling Summer. Immediately, it became a hit and it was so popular that I reprinted it featuring other collections. Actually, this pattern is Zen Chic’s most popular pattern!
One of those collections was Luster from 2016. By using the black and gold fabrics, the pattern was renamed London Nights. Another collection that featured the original London Tube was Breeze from 2019. The all-blue color scheme gave the pattern its recent name, London Blues.
Zen Cabin
With the Zen Cabin pattern, it’s all about color placement. It’s an easy pattern for beginner quilters and is actually made of four quarter log cabins sewn together to make one giant block. To figure out which strips should be sewn together, it’s a good idea to make a couple of sketches before you start the process.
This pattern has featured two Zen Chic collections, Reel Time and Quotation.
Jelly Belly
Another beginner-friendly pattern is the Jelly Belly quilt. I also introduced this pattern for the first time in 2012 featuring my first collection.
However, I was asked by the Jelly Belly company not to use that name any longer. Although I can’t remove it from the original cover, I relaunched the pattern as a second edition which I renamed Jelly Beans.
We will use this same pattern soon to feature my upcoming collection Celestial.
Show your Jelly Roll projects
Once you’ve decided which quilt you’re going to make and you have your Jelly Roll picked out, I would love for you to be part of the fun and show your own Jelly Roll projects on Instagram. Use the hashtag #projectjellyroll2021 so we can find you and cheer you on.