Jelly Roll log cabin - im an idiot
 

I am new to this forum and have made all of 2 quilts in my life - please forgive my ignorance on both fronts.

I am trying to make a log cabin quilt with jelly rolls. I am completely lost as to how many jelly rolls i would need. I have read anywhere from 2-6 rolls. I am bad at cutting and would rather use a jelly roll but if youre telling me i need 6- insanity $$$

this first-return-on-google return is what I am going for. 6x5 or 6x6? is what i am thinking. Is that a cozy size for lounging on a couch? I have seen a few old posts about this - i am sure there are a million so i am sorry if this is a common thread. I belong to some other forums and I know that can be extremely annoying. The posts I was able to find had lots of math and ideally like i wish someone would just say BUY X NUMBER !

Anywho, please help me!
https://media.rainpos.com/5349/350x3...ensionsjpg.jpg

you don't say how large you want the quilt. One way to look at it is how many blocks will you be making. And will the color format vary at all (i.e lights but not necessarily the exact order you show) cause if you are willing to mix up a bit it would seem you'd be able to use the odd ends of the 40-41" jelly roll strip . Maybe one way to estimate is to figure the # of blocks you plan then using your example, count how many strips you can get out of each jelly roll piece (and imagine it would depend on the # of lights/darks in the jelly roll too)

The quilts that I call "couch size" are about 60 to 65 inches wide and 80 to 85 inches long. Big enough for most adults to fall asleep under while on the couch but not so big that there is lots of extra quilt.

They are also large enough to use as an "extta" quilt for warmth on a bed.

I was able to do straight line quioting on my domestic sewing machine- a 1980s Pfaff 1471.

you don't say how large you want the quilt. One way to look at it is how many blocks will you be making. And will the color format vary at all (i.e lights but not necessarily the exact order you show) cause if you are willing to mix up a bit it would seem you'd be able to use the odd ends of the 40-41" jelly roll strip . Maybe one way to estimate is to figure the # of blocks you plan then using your example, count how many strips you can get out of each jelly roll piece (and imagine it would depend on the # of lights/darks in the jelly roll too) This will somewhat depend on the jelly roll and whether you have equal light/darks in the roll and how many total. using your example looks like you'd need 1 strip for the lights (mixing them up) and 1.5 for the dark (again mixing them up) but that depends on your flexibility for the color layout.

PS welcome to the board!

I am sorry i thought i had said how large i would want it- if i make it the size of the image above I was thinking doing 6x6 or 6x5? But i was asking if that sounded right. So 30-36? Does that sound accurate? I am in the wild here so any guidance would be helpful

id like to do a traditional color palette of a light side and a dark side. ideally just greys or blacks on one side and whites on the other. Im happy to buy mixed print rolls, though i am finding plain ones too... in the places I am finding that say you could use 2, couldnt I buy a dark roll and a light roll?

Let me take a shot at this.

The total length of the dark colors in one block add up to 59.5". Multiply that by 36 blocks (6x6) = 2,142". Divide by 40" (average length of a jelly roll strip) = 54 strips of dark fabrics

Total length of light fabrics in one block add up to 45". Multiply by 36 = 1,620". Divide by 40" = 41 strips of light fabric.

Most jelly rolls (but not all) have 40 strips. You would need 3 jelly rolls BUT since you need a specific number of light and dark fabric strips, you'd have to carefully select rolls that have enough the right balance of light and dark strips, with enough variation in color to make the pattern. I suspect you might have to buy more than 3 jelly rolls to achieve that.

I hope this helps.

i am interested maybe in these?
https://www.joann.com/jelly-roll-cot.../15216542.html
they seem cheaper than many i am finding - yes it has only 20 but even if i got two its still less than most I find in the 30-40 range. Thoughts?

they got bad reviews tho so theres that lol

Welcome from South Louisiana! I never use jelly rolls so can't give any advice for how many to buy.

For 30 blocks (6x5), you will need at least 37 light strips and 52 dark strips. For 36 blocks, you will need at least 43 light strip and 61 dark.

For a jelly roll with 40 strips of 2.5” by 42”, that means at least 3 jelly rolls. You will need even more if your jelly roll doesn’t have that many lights or if you want the quilt to be less scrappy. For example, if you want your largest piece 2.5 x 14.5 to be the same fabric, well, you can only get 2 from a 42” strip and thus would need 15 or 18 strips of the same fabric.

Welcome
 

Hello, neil. Welcome to the forum.

I think when you said 6x5 you mean 6 feet by 5 feet. Normally quilts are measured in inches, so 72 x 60. That is also regarded as a "Throw" size. I.e. not large enough to use as a bed spread.

6x5 could mean the number of blocks, and blocks vary in size.

no i did not mean 6x5 feet i was referring to blocks - and I didnt think the blocks would vary as i was saying id use the block attached in the OP

I am sorry that was not clearer.

In your original post the diagam you have shows a 14 inch block. If you want 72x60 inches, I would do 20 blocks: 4 across and 5 down and make up the remaining sixe with a medium border.

if i found jelly rolls with all usable colors would this mean 2x40 strip rolls would be sufficient?

The number of strips indicated by suzSLO and IrishNY are close enough to make the size you want. Since most jellyrolls don't have equal numbers of light and dark you are wiser to buy rolls of all darker colors and rolls of all lighter colors. Depending on the strips in a roll will determine how many rolls to buy. Just get a few more strips than you think you need to be safe. Leftovers can always be used for binding. Good luck and have fun on your project.

Brilliant!!

Hi, and welcome to the board. Go to jellyrollfabric.net if all you want to buy is jelly rolls. They have an amazing assortment.

There is a good tutorial and pattern for a jelly roll pattern on the Jordan Fabric web site and it is free and it works perfectly. I used it in the picture below.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/06...62548624751838

Check out jordonfabrics.com She has tons of photos, free patterns and tutorials. Very helpful information, it's my go to website.

Great advice. Jordan fabrics has wonderful patterns and videos. Precuts are always perfectly cut without pinked edges.

ummm....you said you are just starting out....I would be tempted in purchasing something like a Accuquilt Go cutting machine and making my own strips. It is a big investment.....but.....It would be wonderful investment over years of quilting. I use my Go and 2.5 inch strip cutter all the time as I always bind my quilts with 2.5 inch binding. Jelly rolls are always a bit iffy to me as you don't exactly know how many of each fabric you will get and sometimes (OK often) they include big prints that really don't look that good in a 2.5 inch strip. Just a thought.

Those jelly rolls at Joann's you showed us only have 20 strips in a roll.

The pattern you show finishes at 14" per block. Of you want 5 blocks by 6 blocks - your quilt will end up with 70x84 ... Or just about a twin size and that's before you add borders.

I think going with the pattern on Jordan fabric is great cause it tells what you need exactly. You can get the jelly rolls there also.
Oh, and by the way, you are not am idiot. You will do great work.

sorry for the duplicate posts! I tried to edit and it wasn't showing it was posting. Yes, 3+ jelly rolls (assuming they are 40 pc but not equally divided dark/light). Do you have any left-over fabric you could mix in? Then you could probably get by with just 3 jelly rolls. But if you are doing 5x6 blocks that are 14" finished it would be 70x 84" quilt. So you'd probably need about 318" of binding, which means 8 strips from jelly roll minimum. If you decide to mix up the binding with light/dark you'd have to take into consideration losing 1/2" for each seam.
Welcome and I hope we haven't totally confused you with this!

You have 14” finished blocks, so a 4x5 set would finish at 56 x 70, a fine couch quilt. A 5x6 would be twin size. Let’s go with the 20 block set.
To get the most variation , cut all the jelly roll strips in half.
For your darks:
Select 20 , subcut each into one unit 2.5 x 14.5 and one unit 2.5 x 4.5.
Select 20, subcut each into one unit 2.5 x 12.5 and one unit 2.5 x 6.5
Select 20, subcut each into one unit 2.5 x 10.5 and one unit 2.5 x 8.5
Select 4 strips, 2.5 x 2.5 squares until you total 18.

For your lights:
Select 20, subcut each into one unit 2.5 x 12.5 and one unit 2.5 x 6.5
Select 20, subcut each into one 2.5 x 10.5 unit and one 2.5 x 8.5 unit
Select 4, subcut each into 4 units 2.5 x 4.5 and one 2.5 x 2.5 squares
Select 4, subcut each into 2 units 2.5 x 4.5 and 4 2.5 squares
Select 1, cut into 8 2.5x 2.5 squares. You will have 6 extra 2.5” squares

This would require 31 full dark strips and 25 full light strips, or 56 strips in all.
2 jelly rolls 40 or 42 strips

Niel, first of all Welcome to the board and to the beginning of an amazing journey with making quilts. I’ve only bought one of the jelly rolls from Joann fabrics but the quality wasn’t bad. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Eleanor Burns but she created the Quilt in a Day. She has a YouTube channel that teaches you how to make a log cabin quilt and a website where you can get really good buys on jelly rolls too. It’s too bad that you say you can’t cut your own fabric because then you could just buy a few yards of fabric and get a nice lap size quilt. Do you have any colors in mind for your quilt? Good luck with this venture and just know that we are all here to help you.

Math is NOT my strong suite, so I am no much help with how many you would need, but if you have a Tuesday Morning nearby (and the gods are smiling on you) you might be able to find some there. I have purchased both rolls and charm packs there, and have been happy with the quality.

Yes, watch the number of strips in the jelly roll you purchase. It is not uncommon for us to think we are getting a "deal" on a good quality but low price jelly roll only to find it is half the size that we need. These are sometimes called "honey buns". Jelly rolls should contain 40 - 42 strips. Make sure your bargain is really a bargain.https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/smile.png

You could go to Missouri Star Quilt Company web site. She offers jelly rolls at almost half price on a regular basis. These are the 40 strip JR. If you got the 20 strip JR, you will have to buy twice as many. I have gotten JR from Missouri Star for about $20, and they are beautiful and of good quality.