Ask Jo: The Jelly Roll Quilt

Every so often I share questions from readers. Today is one of those days.

After reading this blog post, a question came from Melissa, “I’m also wondering if it should be 6 inch instead of 6.5. I would love to make a smaller version of this quilt using just one jelly roll!”

The answer is no. To make this quilt, sew jelly roll strips together. Cut them at 6 1/2″ to make a square. Here’s a little diagram that might help walk you through the math.

After sewing the three strips together, they should measure 6 1/2″ tall. If they don’t, something is wrong with your seam allowance and you need to take the time to check it. Here’s a blog post I wrote about that to help you adjust it. You want your blocks to be square that’s why you need to cut them at 6 1/2″ wide.

Just a little FYI…to make the quilt with one jelly roll or 42 ~ 2 1/2″ strips you would sew them strips together giving you 14 strip sets. From each strip set you can get 6 cuts. That means you can get 84 blocks. You could but them into a 9 x 9 setting giving you a 54″ x 54″ throw quilt or an 8 x 10 setting giving you a 48″ x 60″ throw.

Using two jelly rolls would give you 28 strip sets giving you 168 blocks. Those blocks could be put into an 12 x 12 setting giving you a 72″ x 72″ quilt or a 12 x 13 setting giving you a 72″ x 78″ quilt.

Ideally I like quilts that are about 84″ x 90″. For that you would need 210 blocks…or 35 strip sets. You could get that from 2 jelly rolls and 21 extra 2 1/2′ strips…if you’re making it from your scraps you can make this size of quilt with 105 ~ 2 1/2″ strips. That’s a good scrap buster.

The blocks get sewn together like this.

I hope that clears up some of the questions about this easy and fun quilt. If not, feel free to ask more questions.