While at first glance this might just seem like a run of the mill rail fence quilt -- it most certainly is not! After watching a few different "jelly roll race" tutorials, I thought to myself, "why can't you use this same technique to make strip sets for strip pieced blocks?" I put pen to paper and after quite a bit of quilt math, Racing Rails was born!
You can check out the full tutorial on Moda Bake shop (including lots of tips and tricks from what I learned making the quilt), but I wanted to share the basics here as well.
Using all of the strips from a jelly roll, I made a four strip wide set using a slightly modified version of the jelly roll race technique. The strip set was over 32 feet long! I then cut the strip into the 36 - 8.5" blocks for the quilt as well as 27 - 2.5" x 8.5" strips for the pieced border.
The quilt top has three borders - a small border, the pieced border, and a wide border. I used the same light floral print for the small and large borders.
I used one of the plaid prints for the backing and binding and used a meander with little five-petaled flowers as the quilting motif.
The best part about this pattern is that there was almost nothing left over from the jelly roll! Between the blocks and pieced border, I really made sure to maximize what you could get out of the strips.
I also had a lot of fun taking this quilt to the pond nearby for pictures! It was a little windy, but I managed to make sure it didn't get blown into the water!
Visit MBS for the full tutorial! I'm taking suggestions for what other sorts of quilt blocks could be done with this technique, so send me your ideas!
Sharing at TGIFF, Finished or Not Friday, Needle and Thread Thursday, and Finish it up Friday!
That's genius! I love the concept behind jelly roll races but never really caught onto the craze. Love your pics, especially those gazebo shots. Wow! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea behind the quilt, Alison! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteHi Alison,
ReplyDeleteWhat a pretty quilt! I love using a WHOLE jelly roll when making a quilt. Otherwise I have a few strips leftover . . . and they go into the drawer, never to be thought of again until I can't shut the drawer. I will check out MBS for all the details. ~smile~ Roseanne
Such a great idea. I too love the idea of jelly roll races but never got into it. I just found a stash of fabric from a few years ago that I didn't know I had (blushes) and there were 3 jelly rolls in it. I have to keep this in mind.
ReplyDeleteWell isn't that clever! And I really like the border treatment you added. It looks great. Thanks for sharing with TGIFF.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! What an adorable (and easy) quilt!
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed that you could make strip sets that long without them going wonky. You've given people with unused jelly rolls another option.
ReplyDeletePat
A lovely way to use a jellyroll! I love your colour combo with this quilt, with the little 'pops' of plaid too!
ReplyDeleteI made two jelly roll race quilts, and didn't like the final outcome of either. After reading your tutorial, I can see that I do have more jelly roll quilts in my future! Great photography, too, by the way!
ReplyDeleteCongrats! on a AWESOME finish, Alison. Super photo shoot, too!!
ReplyDeleteLove this. I saved your tutorial at MBS.
ReplyDeleteLove the colors in this quilt. You do beautiful work. :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on another beautiful MBS design!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you wrote about your new pattern here on the blog! Now I'm intrigued to see how you did it and will head over to the Bake Shop to read the entire pattern. Congrats on being published :)
ReplyDeleteReally like your rails.
ReplyDeleteYour new MBS pattern is perfect for an old jelly roll that I have on hand. It's perfect timing for National Jelly Roll Day on September 16th!
ReplyDeleteLove this! May need to use this pattern for Jelly Roll Quilt day in September.
ReplyDelete