Finally, the Jelly Roll Marathon

For a quick little project, this one sort of took on a life of its own. Have you ever had that happen? I have learned a few things along the way. I think this quilt would be very good for a service project. It goes together easily enough and   the intense quilting was my idea for practicing while learning my new machine,  A much simpler quilting would produce a nice balance against the pattern.

A close up of the quilting. This is free-hand, no stitch regulator, my pattern. I call it "Hosta" because it reminds me of the many Hosta plants in my gardens.
The lessons learned.

• A Jelly Roll cut makes this very efficient. Having cuts from a collection makes the coordinating effortless. However, any collection of strips would work well.
• If I do this again, I will not sew them off the roll as suggested and I will not sew them in pre-cut length. I will mix them up and I will randomly cut different lengths. The pattern needs more variety. 
• While this is the look I wanted for this piece, colorway specific, because I needed it for the back of a leather couch. Nothing like the chill of cold leather on a cold day or the chill of cold leather on an air conditioned day. *you may have deduced that the 'problem' is the cold leather here. 
• Pressing seams as I go is essential, alternating stitch direction is also essential. Others who have made this quilt noticed significant warping. I had none. I attribute this to pressing and direction of stitches. While this rather negates the Marathon concept, I am OK with it. 
• I am in love with Isacord thread. There I said it and I look forward to quilting now because the Handiquilter is a gem. Exactly what I wanted and what I needed. One of my best ever investments. 
• The board basting method is my new best friend. See   here and here. 

A finished project, the first for 2013 in the Quilting corner of Sewtopia.