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.
The person asking may not be sewing an accurate 1/4 inch seam so my suggestion is after sewing and pressing your strip sets, Measure your actual width, then cut squares. Thanks for doing the math for us. I like having a handy reference which helps figure out ‘about’ what size quilt I will end up with. Cindy
Thanks for the tips on how to resize the quilt using different numbers of jelly roll strips!