The Jelly Roll Marathon Quilt-part 2

I am not sure how much of a marathon this was, but I did manage to get the entire top pieced in one afternoon, about 6 hours, not one hour as implied.  I had visitors, made dinner and did 6 loads of laundry at the same time so I guess that is not so bad. There are two elements where I varied significantly from the video. here.

 Number one, I am not a "fast" sewer. I don't like to sew fast, I don't like futzing around with my fabric, hoping everything lines up like ducks in a row. I like to position it, sew 18 inches or so and re-position. Second, I press my seams as I go. The thought of all those small and very long seams all flapping around as I sew the next row is just not acceptable. I need them to pressed nice and flat before the next step. I starch lightly as I go, I use regular old Niagra spray starch that I get from Costco on a four-pack. Nothing fancy. Spray lightly, wait a minute for it to absorb, then press. No wrinkles or dimples. Works for me.

So, armed with my essentials I sat down for the afternoon Sew-a-thon.

 The tea is in the cup. I keep an electric kettle and my supplies nearby, that way I don't need to climb steps for my cuppa.

 Husband supplied dinner.

Oh yes, and of course, The Jellyroll. This one is by Moda, Kansas Troubles,  Perennials. I am fond of the traditional designs and colors. I also added some lovely Kona black as an accent color.

As instructed in the video, I opened the Jelly Roll and used each strip, in sequence.

Step number one, right sides together, join the strips on their bias, 45 degree angle. 


One after the other, assembly-line style then cut the joining threads. This makes enough strips to stretch from where I live to to the rudderless National Capitol, but that is a subject for another blog.

Now trim off all those wee triangles treated by the bias joinings. Mmmm, wonder if someone I know wants these? 

I pressed every seam along the way. These I pressed open to reduce the bulk when quilting.

 So here we are, the top completed, I just draped it over top of the Dogwood blocks. Please excuse the bins etc, I am cleaning. Sort of.

This view may be better looking.

 The final measurement is 65 inches x 75 inches. For a throw it would work, size-wise. But I am going to do more, I found another Jelly Roll, same fabric. I'll detail my ideas in post #3.

Conclusions:

• this is a great and quick way to piece a top
• my next one will be a bit different in a couple ways, I will change the order of the fabrics in the Jelly Roll. I find the finished product too predictable, rather boring with some of the lights reading as the same color. Because of the way this particular roll was assembled in color-ways the same background colors were in a run. I should un-sew it, but I have chosen to leave it as is. Following the video instructions.
• On the next one I will cut some of  strips in half. This will add some unpredictability to the design. It will limit the railroad effect I see when looking at the finished top.   

So the "flimsy"  is essentially done.  One of my favorite Quilt Bloggers, Kaaren of   The Painted Quilt coined that phrase, one I heard from Husband's Grandmother, years ago. It is one of those words that conjures up all sorts of Home to me.

I am going to add sashing and borders in the same fabric, next time.