When I really got into quilting a few years ago, I always focused on making full quilts. I would look at fabric collections, and imagine the quilt I would make. When buying precut bundles, I always had to consider if I should buy more than one jelly roll or layer cake from a particular collection, so I could have enough fabric for a quilt.
The last couple of years I’ve ventured beyond full quilts and more towards smaller projects, such as table runners, pillow covers, and pot holders. This has made me consider different ways I can use precut bundles, and helps me use precuts in my stash. As I have moved towards smaller projects, I have found that precut bundles can actually go far.
A jelly roll is a roll with 40 strips of fabic, which doesn’t look like much fabric. You need a couple of them to make a bed sized quilt. With a little planning, instead of making a quilt, you can make a few projects from that one jelly roll.
I had a couple of Sunday Supper jelly rolls from Sweetwater Fabrics in my stash, which were going to be a full size quilt, but I decided to use one jelly roll to make a smaller quilt that required 2.5” squares. For this quilt, I cut 480 squares from one jelly roll, and 270 squares from solid fabrics. With the addition of a couple small borders, this made a quilt measuring approximately 46" by 55". (Though this quilt is still in progress, as I need to finish the quilting and bind it.)
After cutting all the squares I needed for the quilt, I had a decent amount of fabric left. I cut some more 2.5” squares and made a little bag/pouch. I also cut some rectangles and made a storage bin. After fabric was cut for those projects, I still had fabric left, so I decided to make a pillow cover.
While I’ve always loved working with precut bundles, this made me realize the versatility they can have. One little jelly roll turned into four finished projects. I may even have a few squares left somewhere, which I could add to a scrap pile to make a scrappy quilt, or I could make a pot holder.
How far can you make one jelly roll go?