Strip Quilt -How fast
 

I have seen on Utube the women who do the races and get them done in an hour :shock: so silly me thought hhhmmmmm if they can do it in an hour maybe I could get it done in about 3-4 hours , right ??? WRONG :shock: LOL Spent an hour on it Monday and that didn't even get the strips sewn together- so Wednesday finished sewing the strip together- today want to start sewing up the end to end part.

Have you ever done one if so a few questions :
How long did it take ?
How do you stop the twisted knot before you get to the end to cut ?

Also please post pics so we can see them all :) I will post after I have it all sewn together

I also found that tute interesting. Want to do it with a friend some day just for fun. If you look back, all the quilters had their strips sewn together before they started. I will be watching for all the jelly roll race quilts, especially yours. Have fun! m

Just like trying to make the 10 minute block in 10 minutes, LOL!

Thanks for this fun information. I wondered how those races really worked as well. They still look like it would be fun. Teresa

I've seen several people do the jelly roll race in less than an hour. Don't worry about the twist. When you get down to the end you cut it and then finish sewing it.

The timing Jelly Roll Race starts when you start doing the end-to-end sewing.

So, SharonB .... the part you are doing today is when the clock starts!

Of course, you know what comes next .... show us your quilt and tell us your time! :)

Sharon b, we sound like sisters! I can never do anything fast or simply. Just sit back and enjoy our SLOW ride!

Mine is all from fabric I got from swaps here - I tried to stick mostly to florals - so when I am done I will have a HUGE Group hug from members here :)

This will be beautiful, I'm sure ... just look at all of BarnBum's floral log cabins! And what a way to have your quilting friends with you, all the time!

Til I saw BB's work, I wasn't so intrigued by florals. Since then ... well, let's just say that they have gone forth and multiplied in my stash!


Just as with any pattern ... there are some quilts that turn out phenomenally beautiful and some are not so. I've seen both for the Jelly Roll Race .... as I have for DWR, HITBD, LC ... and ... and ... and ...

Old joke - if I'm holding a bee in my hand, then what's in my eye? Answer: Beauty is in the eye of the bee holder. :) (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)

We all have different tastes and what appeals to one may not appeal to another I've seen some pictures of the jelly roll race quilts that were beautiful, to me at least. I don't think the purpose in making it is to make a quick quilt, it's to make THIS quilt and perhaps compare your finish time to the race times. It's also to try out this pattern and see if you like it. It's a novelty, but one that is creative and interesting. It can be a fun way to bring quilters together to make quilts for charity. I bought a couple of jelly rolls just for this purpose, though I haven't put them together yet. I'm hoping the guild will have a race and I can make one then.

I have a black and white jelly roll I'm considering using for the jelly roll race quilt. But I think when I'm done I'll use it for a "canvas" for a large floral applique. I'm thinking maybe California Poppies would look cool.

Be sure to visit this site and see all the wonderful ideas other quilts have come up with...for Jelly Rolls. See PHOTOS.
Not everyone buys their rolls, they make their own. Even Etsy has had some quilts that were made from Jelly Rolls.

http://www.jellyrollquilters.com/for...istForCategory

June in Cincinnati

Sounds to me, by the name it is suppose to be fast. Why would they call it a Jelly Roll Race?
Don't feel bad SharonB and others, I can't do much fast either, I can keep up a steady pace and work longer than others.

Well not including the putting the strips together end to end it took just over 2 hours - of course I didn't have the pedal all the way down and was chatting as I was working :) Will post pics tomorrow

Ok and here is the pic of all the strips together- it has mostly florals [ATTACH=CONFIG]324581[/ATTACH]

Were I not such an obsessive compulsive perfectionist, I'm sure I could stitch much faster. But then my pieces wouldn't be as precisely cut. And my blocks wouldn't come out square. etc. etc. I am happy this way. My husband and family love me this way. No medical professional has ever wanted to medicate me for this. It's just my personality. But I won't be entering any "jelly roll races", that's for certain! I'd come in dead last!

I have made several strip quilts. Timing depends on what you are using as strips. If you use 42" wide strips - takes no time at all, small strips or odd sizes take a long time to sew together. However, I like the odd sized strip look best of all. I just keep sewing pieces together until I have enough to start joining and sewing. Sometimes I add some applique after finishing just to make the piece have a different look.

it looks great... It took me 2 hrs- to make the one long strip then petal to the floor to sew side by side, snip and sew- and it was NOT straight sewing by no means... But it was fun..

I did one in batiks. It took me about 2 hours to do and it came out great.

I read your post and laughed so hard I cried! Not at you - I attended a quilt retreat last weekend and my friend and I decided to make the 1600 inch quilt. Since the youtube video had it done in under an hour, we figured we could come home with a quilt top totally finished by the end of the weekend! Doesn't work that way. We started early Sat. morning - around 9:00am and by lunchtime, we just looked at each other saying - what is wrong with us? We should be done by now! Long story short - I finished sewing mine together just before dinner at 6:00pm. Sun morning I put borders on it. My friend didn't get that far. Hers twisted a lot more than mine and she spent a lot of time untwisting it.
I found the best way to handle the twists for the first two or three rows is to gently urge it to go to the end and cut it when you are ready to sew the end and then even up where you cut. When you get to the last few rows it is easy to keep it from twisting. I think next time I would lay out the 1600 inches, double it over, and cut before I sewed the first long row.
So, it took me the better part of a day and a half to finish my hour quilt top! I will try to take a pic and post later today.

Jelly Roll Race
 

Here's a picture of one of my jelly roll race quilts. It took me @ 3 hours to sew all the strips together & do the 5 seams. I made 3 of these in under 2 days.

I have made MANY of these with variations. I now have discovered I like them better when I use the strips cut in half instead of the full 40". I don't time myself, because I am like many of you, a little bit of a perfectionist to try to do it speedily. They go faster if you don't do the angle seam thing. I made several one weekend. I have a couple I still have to find backing for.

I've done several Once the strips are sewn together(the bad part), I knock them out in about an hour and a half or a bit more. The twist doesn't matter. At the end just cut it and go on about your business. They are fast and easy and it is always a surprise when you are done. Have fun.

Oh, and as far as trying to keep from getting the strip twisted, I try to let the strip drop neatly into a basket under my table; then I match up the ends and take out any twists before I ever start stitching. This is where the race slows, but keeps things less frustrating.

Did one of these. It took me 5 days to get it done. Sewing about 4 to 4 1/2 hours a day. Was I slow or whar????

my sil and I took a class had most of it done in the class came home finished that one and did another top that evening so I have to quilt tops ready to finish. My sil and I bought the fabric for the borders and just waiting for another weekend off to finish. Bought three jelly rolls at tuesday morning, the bigger ones were 14.00 the small one was 5.00, sewing all my strips last night when I got home from work, after awhile counted strips together there were 80 in the strip, with 20 more to go, someone at the store must have combined a couple of jelly rolls together and didn't notice. there you take a gamble sometimes there unrolled and the staff just put them back together and put a rubber band around them. I think its going to be a big top with all those strips I have together. It's the don't bug me jelly roll with all the bugs on it, with some solid pink and green

Please show pictures

I did this in a class and the Race was for who could get finished within an hour. Now, granted this was after all the strips were laid out and ready to go after stitching them end to end. Whoever finished in an hour won whatever prize was up, I think this was 50.00. The class took about three hours, but was a lot of fun, because you are visiting with folks and chatting it up.

In the class, you cut off 14 inches from the first strip, so it staggers the colors/prints.
In the class, if you are twisted at the end of the strip, you lose 2 minutes. :)

I had bought a saltbox Jelly Roll, I think they have 8 different fabrics in the Jelly Rolls. When class was over, I bought a packet of five purple and green fabrics. I cut my own strips at home and made another one, because I did enjoy it. Of course at home I can cut the fabric when it twists. lol, but yeah in class I had bad twisting after sewing all the strips together, when sewing I just took a bit more time to try and keep it untwisted before I'd sew the next strips. I didn't win the main prize, but I still enjoyed the class. I forget what we came up with to stop the harsh twisting on the first 1600 inch piece.

And I'd be right there along side you! I'm not fast either, doesn't make any difference whether I am quilting, making baskets, crocheting, knitting or what ever, I'm always last. But like you, I say my husband and family is happy with what I do and that's all that matters.

I did one earlier this year. It took me a the better part of a Saturday afternoon. I did not try to sew as fast as I could. I got the strips twisted once, then I started laying the the material out on my floor to be sure there were no twists. I enjoyed doing it and like my end product. I have another jellyroll that I plan on doing the same way. It was fun to have an almost finished product in less that a day.

My guild did the jelly roll races for our community quilt workshop this year. Starting with all the strips sewn together and ready to sew, the first to have her quilt sewn was in 18.6 minutes. the second was 18.9 and this one was pin basted before wewere through. these two gals sewed 2 more apiece in our time frame of 3 hours. One lady did get hers sewn, basted quilted and bound in the 3 hours. These were lap size quilts. It can be done by some. Just not by me. My top was done, but I still have to baste, wuilt and bind mine.
My DD came in 3rd at 19.2 minutes. hers is up to quilting now.

Part of the fun is enjoying the journey, racing seems to end too soon.

Too funny. Thanks for the laugh.

For these quilts the fun is the race.

The first things you do is FORGET ABOUT THE QUILTER WHO DID IT IN ONE HOUR
The second is take your time and at each row let it fall down in front of you. Try to keep some order with it.
Third is take a little time and smooth out the row so it is reasonably straight
And if it twist, just cut it apart and then straighten up when it is finished.
I saw several of these at the recent show in Cleveland where the quilter had added borders to the entire center which makes a very attractive quilt. You could even cut it i half and then add a border to each for two crib size quilts.
I made one in which I used ony one fabric. It was printed in a gradated color the length of the fabric. The one I used was a pastel primary/secondary color way. I cut it into 42" lengths and then cut into 2.5" strips and sewed it together. It always gets ooooos and ahhhhhhs. I sewed them together on the diagonal which took a bit longer but was very attractive.

Our small group did this not as a race but to make quilts for Quilts of Valor.

I sure do like your jelly roll quilt. Love the colors. Thanks for sharing the picture with us.

An interesting technique, but I try to do harder, more challenging quilts to keep me busy without having to buy too much expensive fabric.

or the "quilt in a day". ha

my friend loves scappy pieces. she has done several with scrap strips (4" and up) from a color family adding bits of contrast here and there. these really turn out cute.

The ladies in the video had their strips sewn together before they started timing them. That takes the most time. I enjoy making the jelly roll quilts, but I don't go for speed. I just enjoy the process. It is relaxing if you aren't trying to beat the clock! lol