Rolling up your 2.5" strips
 

I know a jellyroll has 2.5" strips, and when I look at them in the store they look SO nice.

What am I doing wrong....I am trying to make my own jellyrolls to store the strips that way, so they are organized and not getting completely crushed in the bottom of a box, or kinked being folded, but my "jelly rolls" are looking like an oozy mess.

What's the trick?

My guess is they have a machine. I bought a box at Walmart to store Christmas ornaments- I didn't use the dividers just the rows and the strips fit perfectly. And since there are a number of rows I can separate them into major color groups.

Are you rolling them up overlapping each other by about 1/2" or so? Just an idea. :)

Yes, and by the time I get done rolling, they are several inches apart. I don't know how they keep them only 1/4" or so. Frustrating!

What if you folded them like Bali Batiks? Maybe if you started with the folds stacked even then fold into one-thirds they will stagger. Hope this makes sense.

I bought a laundry rack and put some of my jelly rows I was using for a quilt over the dowels and that worked great. Now I just fold them in thirds and lay them neatly in a box. That works for me.

You could fold so far then roll and tie a smaller strip around them. Thanks for your idea though, I have a lot of strips and not liking them just laying in the container. I have a lot of lace trim and I could wrap around the stacks.

I know that ArtBin has created "strip" satchels now. I've seen them at JoAnns (http://www.joann.com/artbin-transluc...F-D0F665A1B291) and they are at WalMart (https://www.walmart.com/ip/ArtBin-Fa...ucent/46260900).

JoAnns is having a sale online.

Once you have your strips staggered and ready to roll, take a toilet paper roll or a paper towel roll, tape thew first strip and roll on, roll on.

I've never been able to get them to roll up as neatly as the pre-packaged ones. I just do the best I can at rolling and then stick them in a ziplock to help contain them so they don't explode all over the drawer I keep them in.

Rob

You can't really see them well when they are rolled. So... I have mine stacked on their sides in a plastic drawer unit. They are folded in quarters (halved and then halved again) which makes the strips about 11" long for the drawers. If you have a full drawer they stand neatly on their side, and you can easily flip through them to see exactly what you have.

If I haven't opened the roll yet, I leave it out on my fabric shelf because those perfect rolls look so pretty. ;)

I keep my strips cut and on a hanger! They are always straight and ready

I have a couple of the ArtBin strip boxes and really like them.

Actually I like mine folded flat on top of each other like showbizgirl described. Although Jellyrolls look pretty because they are so neat, I find that they really don't show the fabric that well. Once you have them out and folded on top of each other (folded in quarters) they give you enough of a visual to see the colors and how they interact with each other.

I cut 2-1/2" strips to piece Log Cabin Quilt Blocks. I use a long quilt pin and pin the first strip to a toilet paper roll, roll it on as neatly as possible, then pin the next strip and roll to the end, continue pinning the beginning of a strip to the end of the previous strip. Then, you can either stack them in a box or on dowel rods to keep them neat!

I line up the folded ends and roll from that end, so the selvedges will roll last. The staggering will happen automatically. The other trick is to not create the roll when the strips are lying flat. Roll a couple of inches, then working on a slick surface, like a kitchen counter, tip the roll so the long cut end is against the counter and continue to roll. This way, the cut edges are always lined up. I can't get them as tight as the commercial ones, but they do look pretty neat.

I like to keep mine rolled because it's easy to see relative values of the strips at a glance when I can only see the edges.

Rob

These are pricey IMO because you can get a stacker that's about 3" deep, 10" wide and 12" long for the same price as on of those strip bins. Walmart has them. It's called "Super Stacker". I got one right in the store and they're clear.

The SuperStacker you're talking about is "document" sized, and I think that looks pretty cool!! It's only $4.70 at WalMart. That might actually make a good "project box", to put finished blocks in to keep them flat.


I've been on an organizing binge the past few days (you may have seen my post). I grabbed 8 plastic shoe boxes from the dollar store, only $1 each. Depending on how the organizing goes, I'll probably be using these... but MAYBE the SuperStacker.


As far as rolling your own jellyroll, start with everything lined up together - the bulk from rolling will automatically "stagger" the strips. I used a knitting needle to get it started - then once that was going, I set it on the raw edge and continued to "pat" the edge as I rolled. Looked pretty good!

Where is Mr. Rogers when you need a trip to the factory so you can get the how they do it story.

Yep I went back and picked up a couple more. Can also use these for light boxes. [QUOTE=letawellman;7683216]The SuperStacker you're talking about is "document" sized, and I think that looks pretty cool!! It's only $4.70 at WalMart. That might actually make a good "project box", to put finished blocks in to keep them flat.


I've been on an organizing binge the past few days (you may have seen my post). I grabbed 8 plastic shoe boxes from the dollar store, only $1 each. Depending on how the organizing goes, I'll probably be using these... but MAYBE the SuperStacker.


As far as rolling your own jellyroll, start with everything lined up together

LOL.....Or a new episode of "how it's made!"

I never know where to put pre-cuts so after moving them each time I clean I end up making a quilt and using them up. Only get the pre-cuts as gifts or prizes - never buy them.

I had seen a tip many years ago for binding that I have used ever since. After you make and press the binding, you roll it onto a cut up pool noodle putting straight pins into the fabric and foam every so often to hold them on the roll. To make the foam rolls, you would hold the pool noodle on your cutting board and with a serrated knife, cut it off every 6 or 8 inches (I guess you would need it longer if you wanted to put a full 40 strip jelly roll onto the foam roll) easy peasy. All of my bindings stay really well and are ready to use when I want them and the pins hold the fabric in place.

i stagger mine as shown in image. but i don't roll them. i fold up the "tails" so that the whole is about a foot long. i then take one more strip, fold in half and wrap around the bundle of strips ..fabric sticks to itseldf and this holds securely w/o pins. i sort my scraps etc by color, fabric type, print type etc. then i store them in underbed plastic bins. ..my bundles are not huge and easy to find what i want when i am working on new project. one of my dislikes of 'jelly rolls' is you really don't know what you have w/o opening the whole mess. hope this idea helps you.

I like the Art Bin organizers for strips. Keeps them flat and easy to store.

http://www.artistsupplysource.com/pr...FQasaQod09gFGA

I keep my strips on hangers. So much neater and they don't wrinkle!

I only store my new ones rolled -- tried to re-roll them and no luck. 10 in a roll worked better but I bought a couple of these boxes-- they store the strips with one fold and the little flippers hold them pretty well. These little boxes are a bit pricey, though.

This is kind of an old thread but it made it back to the top :)

letawellman described it pretty well. I've seen a video of them being rolled at the factory. They were done by hand and they had a box (looked to be wooden) with the strips laying in it. When you roll the stack, the top strips bunch up and you have to lift the jelly roll or let it hang so the strips are realigned and then you roll some more. That box helped the sides stay straight.

I've rolled them before with the standard 42 strips and can make them look pretty good.