I believe I'm stupid - Jelly Roll Quilt help.
 

I have watched Jenny Doan's Jelly Roll race video no less than 4 times. I got the sew at 45 degree angles right sides together figured out after I had loops of fabric to the right of my needle (it makes a difference which way you sew the 45 degree angle) I got the strips all cut apart and found (luckily) I only sewed 5 of them with 1 of the strips right side up. Once I got all my strips going the same direction I started sewing them together from opposite ends. Here is my problem: What do I do with the loop of fabric at the end after the strips are sewn together? I saw Jenny clip the bottom apart after she was finished. I'm confused.
I feel like such an idiot.

If you're an idiot, so am I. Apparently you keep grabbing the bottom of the quilt and joining it up to the top and sew it together time and time again. After doing it twice, I got all confused too and decided I was just going to cut everything to 48" and join those together in 3's and 4's. Turned out really nice even if I didn't do it the "approved" way.
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No idiots, just confusion! Stitch all strips together end to end, right sides together (angle or straight either one) to make one long (very long) strip. Cut about 18" off of one end (this makes the seams not end up stacked right on top of each other).

Pick up both ends of that very long strip and put them right sides together (don't try to straighten it out down the length, just have faith and sew the strips together all the way to the end (it will have a loop and possibly twists in it) clip the loop as close to the bottom as possible. Stitch off the end.

Pick up both ends of the double strip, place right sides together and do the same thing, over and over and over. Square up the sides and make a quilt!

I ended mine about 45-48" wide and got a nice lap quilt. Then I decided to do it again and put borders on it to make it larger. Gave them away so don't have pics, but lots of pics on line. Now go sew strips together and you will have a lovely quilt!

So I can clip the bottom instead of trying to figure out how Jenny ended up with a sewn bottom she had to cut apart? Cool. I'm good to go! Thank you so much!

I have not tried this yet but when I watched the video, I had the same thoughts of problems arising when I do try it.
Thanks for posting.

Here's a picture of my Jelly Roll Race quilt. I didn't have a jelly roll so I cut my own stripes. Fast and easy once you know what to do and how to do it :D
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Near the beginning of the quilt, when the strips are really long, you may have a twist at the bottom. Whether there's a twist or not, you cut it evenly. As the quilt's length decreases (and its width increases), you will be able to simply bring the top to the bottom without having a twist. At that point you will have the smoothly sewn bottom to clip, which Jenny shows near the end of the video. (If you watch the video carefully during the speeded up segments, you will see her reaching for the scissors occasionally. That's when she is cutting the bottom section after each seam is completed.)

this sounds like fun--i am thinking if every one in a group[approx 20] brings a 2 1/2 inch width of fabric we would have a top each meeting for charity

No pic, but I never sewed at a 45 degree angle..call me cheap but I hated to cut off the pieces!!

I think it adds design interest to do an angle cut, but I'm sure you can do whatever.

I am glad you started this thread, I watch the video, have my roll ready and my girlfriend and I are going to try a race after Christmas. Watched the video many times and have been worried about starting it. Thank you.

O_O, your not an idiot! Sometimes you have to watch over and over again and then make many mistakes until it finally registers, I am that way for sure, I just think of it as a learning experience and another challenge.....but your not an idiot....

If I read your post correctly, there are 20 people in your group, and each person brings 1 2 1/2 in strip, then you should only be able to make one quilt top from this. So you would have a top at each meeting, but if each of you brought a jelly roll or the 20 strips then you would have 20 tops you could do for one meeting, just a thought, depends how many quilts you want to do for charity. All could be working on JR's at the same time. In one Jelly roll I used to do my first JR quilt, there were 40 -2 1/1 inch strips, which made a decent size lap quilt. I purchased 2 jelly rolls from Hobby Lobby and each one of them only had 20 -2 1/1 " strips, with repeats of most of the strips, so I used both jelly rolls to make one quilt. Be sure to check the jelly roll you are purchasing to see just how many strips are in each one. They do differ in the number of strips.
These are quick and easy to do, just as someone earlier posted, your quilt keeps getting wider each time you bring the bottom strip back to the top to sew again, not longer. You will have to cut the loop at the bottome each time. After I sewed all of my original strips into one longggg strip, I cut my 18" or so off at the top, but I am sure you can do either end. I did not find the tute by Jenny confusing, but if it is to you, you might check out the Jelly Roll Race Video also on You Tube and watch it. I found that Jenny at Missouri Star Quilting .com was a much better tute video for my personally. If you have any problems, p.m. me and I will try and help. I have made three already, but all of the above posts seem to be very explanatory and good to me. Just have fun.

I never understood why you cut 18 inches off the beginning and threw it away. Why don't you cut off about 12 inches or so and sew that to the other end? The purpose of cutting them off in the first place is so that the seams don't all end up in the same place; at the ends of all the rows. But you can still sew that cut-off piece back on at the other end to get that effect. No???? As you can see, I don't need to add to my scraps. LOL

I used 50 strips and ended up with a huge quilt. I cut of a piece Of the first strip without measuring and attached it at the bottom. Also I did not do my seams on angle, I just did regular seam and the quilt turned out great, but really big. When I got to the end, I clipped the loop and repeated the same until it was done. Good luck!

I did not do the 45 degree angle, instead I sewed in an inch and a half ( by 2 1/2)piece of solid dark (purple) between each strip, really make the color prints of the strips pop....made a cute childs quilt

ArtsyOne and Anael - I sure like your quilts! The colors are GREAT!!

It is pretty, "Approved" method or not!

I love making these, adding borders and finishing them. So easy and quick once I got the hang of it.

I make it a point to never say bad things about myself. Heck, if I got going, I'd probably never stop!

I made one of these and all I did was cut it. Right or wrong, it worked.

I'm off to watch that video! Your comments have intrigued this novice quilter, and I want to give it a try too! Anything FAST gets my stamp of approval! Thanks everyone!

I have not really liked a lot of the jelly roll quilts I have seen. Some are wonderful, but some look really boring. But by putting in a really bright square in each seam, that would really made the quilt pop.

Oh I like the idea of making your own strips - use up what ya got!

I made mine with Batiks -- I had the worst time with getting that 45 degree angle going the right way and side. I still don't know why - its just like sewing fabric for a (really, really looooong) binding. If that was part of the race I would still be on the starting line. When I had it all pieced I decided that I wanted it longer so I sewed another set of strips (eight or so) and sewed them alternatly to the top and bottom, cutting the first off at the width of the large pieced area and then going to the other end and doing the same. Can't tell where the original ended and the add ons started.

This pattern is a lot of fun --- but don't start with batiks, find something with a clear front and back and save your sanity.

We have made many of these quilts in our group and given them to people with different needs. They are fun and quick. We also just used fabrics that were leftovers or donated for our charity quilts. Some of the members were creative and added in squares in between. Some even did some appliques on them of flowers etc turned out really neat.

I haven't tried this method yet, but I have watched the tutorial since I love Jenny's tuts. When I know I am going to use a method, I take notes as I watch the video. I find it is easier for me to learn if I write the directions down. I bookmark the tutorial and have both handy. :):):)

45 degree angle sewing of the strips is the same as if you were making bias strips for binding or borders. it is done the same way. directions for bias binding is usually in instructions for quilt making in back of magazines In general knowledge.
It really does look nice. I finished one of these quilts , finished binding last night. It was such a quick quilt. I meandered quilted over all. I will post a pic later, I just joined this group today.
joannegled

Great idea!

Here's a batik one I made awhile back. I bordered it in black, then added another border of tie-dyed batik. It's finished now, but I don't have a photo of the finished quilt handy. :)

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I'm still an idiot. Cold someone do a tutorial on it?
Thanks!

There is a tutorial in the tutorial section on this board. I found it after I posted this thread. It along with Jenny's video should get you going.
http://quiltingtutorials.com/product...uilt-top-hour/

Once I got it straight in my head I made 2 tops over the weekend. I'm going to use them as practice quilts for FMQ them pass them on to my nieces.