{"id":4996,"date":"2010-04-07T07:25:37","date_gmt":"2010-04-07T14:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artquiltmaker.com\/blog\/?p=4996"},"modified":"2016-06-16T19:00:13","modified_gmt":"2016-06-17T02:00:13","slug":"jelly-roll-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artquiltmaker.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/jelly-roll-thoughts\/","title":{"rendered":"Jelly Roll Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Merry<\/a>
Merry & Bright Jelly Roll<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I needed a fast project, some quilt sorbet<\/a> for when the Sorbet quilt<\/a> wasn’t working.<\/p>\n

I have had a Sandy Gervais Merry and Bright<\/a> Jelly Roll for a long time. This past weekend, I decided it was time to take the fabric strips and make the It’s a Wrap<\/a> quilt. I had some other things to do, but I spent a lot of time just sewing and learning.<\/p>\n

It was a somewhat strange experience. First, someone said they couldn’t believe I was using a Jelly Roll. I was hesitant to tell them about the pattern. I did tell her for shock value and I thought she would keel over. Sometimes, I think, by limiting choices, a quiltmaker can focus on other elements of the process. That is what I was doing, even though I didn’t start out with that intent.<\/p>\n

\"Merry<\/a>
Merry & Bright Jelly Roll<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One thing I learned is that there is value in trying things out: different fiber content, different construction techniques, different tools, etc. Having a pattern and the fabric choices taken care of gave me fewer decisions and I could focus on learning the pros and cons of the Jelly Roll.<\/p>\n

There is no doubt in my mind that the Moda Bakeshop offerings are a brilliant marketing scheme. My biggest confusion with the one Jelly Roll I had was that many of the pieces were cut off grain. Nadine Ruggles mentioned this in one of her blog posts<\/a>, but I got to experience it first hand. This means that my strips weren’t straight, but bowed – tending towards Cs and Ls rather than Is. This phenomenon was frustrating, but I also learned a lot about strip cutting and grain. I know<\/em> that I need to line up the selvedges and trim the sides to make a straight cut. Seeing the bow in the the Jelly Roll strips made me understand (in an embedded in my mind sort of way) what cutting off grain does to strips.<\/p>\n

I don’t have a Jelly Roll book, but I would like to know if they address that problem in the directions of the various projects. Nothing was said on my pattern.<\/p>\n

\"Unrolled<\/a>
Unrolled Jelly Roll<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The things I liked about the Jelly Roll:<\/p>\n