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.

I love pre cuts. I use my Go to many of them though. I buy MSQC jelly rolls when on a daily deal. The variety of a jelly roll can't be beat. All the fabrics in one line all together. As far as the pinked edges when sewing, just ignore them and sew as straight edge.

It appears there are brands that have straight edges. Perhaps these would work for your project.

https://jordanfabrics.com/collections/strip-sets

I you buy yardage and cut your own, you are going to have to have approximately 3 yards at the very least , as you can get 14 strips of WOF out of a yard of fabric and this would be a 1 yard cut. To have the various fabrics, you would need 20 fabrics cut at 1/6 yard each. total of 3 and 1/3 yards fabric. I do have a quilt shop that will cut 1/6 yard cuts. You do the math, I would say to shop and find a jelly roll on sale. Just MHO

I like Jelly Rolls because generally they are all from the same line of fabric and play nicely together. Once in a while a blooper is added but not more than one and not in every roll. I watch for good quality jelly rolls on sale, online. Often but not always MSQ. When I count my time for shopping for colors that blend well, pressing, cutting, recalculating patterns for yardage cut strips. I don't think I am losing much on the purchase of an on-sale jelly roll.

If you do buy a jelly roll watch what you buy. Some only have 20 strips instead of 40 so the price seems great until you realize that you have to have 2 of them to make a quilt.

I made the Amazing Jelly Roll Quilt using fat quarters and yardage and just cut my own 2 1/2" strips. It's a bit of work and a bit hard to know if you have enough fabric, but it came out really nicely.

I was watching a few of Jordan Fabrics youtubes last week and learned all their precuts are cut on site by Mr. Jordan.
He uses the biggest rotary cutter and a long utility ruler to straighten up the beginning edge. I thought I was the only one with one of those :)

Ditto candyquilting. Start out small and decide if you like the way the project looks. You'll know as you grow in quilting about how much to buy etec.
I don't like to buy anything with pinked edges. After you have been at this game a bit, you'll have plenty of fabric to strip into whatever sizes you need.

A gal named Bonnie Hunter has a method of scrap management that I use. I cut leftover scraps into 2.5", 3.5", 5" in strips and blocks to use in other quilts. At some point you'll have a huge stash.

I once was cuckoo for jelly rolls. This was my favorite online site to buy them: https://www.jellyrollfabric.net/
because they are cut accurate, they are quality fabric, and they are decently priced.
Note: they are 20 strip rolls. And they are on sale right now. This site also has LOTS of free patterns to use with your jelly rolls. :) Love free stuff.
BTW...I am not affiliated with this website in any way, just liked their rolls. I don't buy them much anymore because I still have lots to use up first.

Another place to check for jelly rolls is Green Fairy Quilts. They usually have a precut sale each week. You shouls be able to check details on a jelly roll to see how many duplicates there are.

I second Green Fairy Quilts for precuts, they have great sales and bulk deals. They do a huge black friday sale every year and mark stuff way down. I also have good luck at Tuesday Morning here, it's a discount chain and they have lots of jelly rolls and layer cakes there all the time. My favorite small yardage to buy is 1/3 yard also.