2.5 inch strips
 

I was just wondering what others do. I want to make a quilt (The Jelly Roll Jam pattern) that calls for 2.5" strips but I don't want to buy the precut jelly rolls with the pinked edges. What is the best way, do I get several fabrics cut in different colours or can I use fat quarters. How many fat quarters would I need to equal that of a jelly roll. I'm new to quilting and trying to get my head around a few things any advice is appreciated.

I just buy 1/4 yard of fabric - that will give you 3 strips with a small margin to straighten the edges. You can also get 4 different fabrics for the price of one yard. Which is usually cheaper than 4 fat quarters.

I purchase yardage as suggested by "quiltingcandy".

Thank you for your reply

A jelly roll will have strips that are 2.5" wide by WOF (width of fabric, which is usually 44-45").
A fat quarter measures 18"x 22" instead of a regular quarter (9xWOF) because it's often more usuable that way.
Some shops charge more for fat quarters. My favorite local shop does not. But my favorite "small cut" to ask for is 1/3 yard.

the most sensible approach is the one suggested by quiltingcandy.
for most projects precut strips are far too expensive.
but if you need a wide variety of fabrics then they can make sense just for the convenience.
there are more fabric brands now selling precut strip rolls.
most of them are not pinked.
of course, nearly all of them have poorly cut strips - not matter the price.

i have two friends who have had very good experiences with the strip rolls sold by jordanfabrics.com
they swear that every strip is cut precisely.

shop around for rolls of non-pinked strips on sale.

I too buy the linear quarter of the fabric so I have the variety I am looking for. However I happen to love jelly rolls with pinked edges because they don't fray. I also only buy jelly rolls when they are on sale that being said I only pay under $20 for a roll. If you did want to make it with fat quarter's you would need to double the amount of fabric which is usually more than you would spend on the jelly roll.

Buying a 1/4 yard of multiple fabrics sounds great, but if you want jelly roll like fabric (20 or so coordinating fabrics) you might be hard pressed to find that except in quilt shops. Here, our quilt shop sells all their fabrics for $12.99 per yard and fat quarters for $3.49 each.

Maybe others have other fabric stores available to them that have coordinating fabric lines more reasonable where they will sell you 1/4 yard pieces. Stores like Joann's just don't have much in the way of coordinating fabrics when you want to emulate jelly roll lines. They can be ok for finding some pieces to coordinate with what you all ready have.

The problem I have with bargain sale fabric, is it is usually one of kind, or sometimes two or three from a line, then you have to set out to find fabrics that will coordinate with them. Don't misunderstand me. I am a bargain shopper for nice fabric at a reasonable cost, but that has resulted in my accumulating soooooooo much fabric, I will never in my remaining years ever be able to use. Plus I have to cut it up myself. So though I don't like to have to spend $35-$40 for a jelly roll, in my case, it would be cheaper.

Perhaps if I were younger, buying all this yardage might make more sense.

I have so much fabric that I can just cut strips from my stash.

If you want lots of coordinated fabrics, it's hard to beat Missouri Star when they have a jelly roll on their Daily Special for $19.99 or $21.99.