The Gift

In the previous post "No Scraps Left Behind" I talked about all of the items I created using just one jelly roll as the main fabric.  This post is about the main item I started with, a baby quilt.  Future posts will tell about the other 29 items I made from that one jelly roll.

Our friend’s daughter is having her first baby so I wanted to make something special.  Her baby has an uncommon name – Tinley.  I grow up with an uncommon name, Danna, and always wanted the items from vacation hot spots that were personalized.  But, I could never find my name spelled correctly.  So I felt it was vital that Tinley have something with her name big and bold. 

I scoured the internet for new and fun pattern ideas using a jelly roll or fat quarters, and came across this tutorial here from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I loved the idea of not having to cut all of the pieces of fabric.  She does this pattern in the tutorial with  honey bun strips but I made mine with jelly roll strips.

I purchased a Jellies roll from the local fabric store in perfect colors for her nursery.  My jelly roll had 10 fabrics with two strips of each fabric.  The strips in a jelly roll are 2 ½ “ wide x 44” long.  I have looked on the internet at other jelly rolls and most seem to have 40 strips of 15 – 20 different fabrics.  If you had the larger jelly roll you could get a larger quilt or possibly two quilts out of the one roll. 

Here are the pictures of the finished quilt.

Finished Quilt: I used the Key Hole pattern with a solid insert of 6 inches.  The finished quilt was 36" wide by 44" long.

Name and flowers were machine appliqued.

Back of Quilt: I inserted 3 pieces from the leftover jelly roll strips to give a more modern look to the back.  The other backing fabric I purchased from the bolt, it is one of the fabrics from the jelly roll line.

This pattern was fun and quick.  I really enjoyed how easily the blocks and the whole top came together.  The longest part of making the quilt top was cutting and doing the applique of the name and flowers. 

The tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company gave clear directions.  I really like her tutorials and her excitement is contagious.  Give this pattern a try to find out how easy and fun it really is. 

Remember; make pink lemonade with all of life's lemons!

Danna

No scraps left behind – An Experiment in Quilting/Crafting Frugalness

All 30 projects created from one jelly roll!

I have been crafting, quilting and sewing for years. I recently moved my sewing/crafting area to a new space in our home. During the move I began to notice that my fabric stash was taking over my house. It was in two closets, four drawers and a cabinet.

It was at this point my husband suggested it was time to clean out and cut back. Oh, what a horrible thought! How could I possibly survive without all of my fabric. But, after many hours of digging out fabric and going through stacks and stacks I began to see his point of view. Since the move I have begun to sort my scrap fabric by workable sizes for quilting and other projects. (I will post some of these ideas at a later time)

When it was time to make a quilt for a friends baby shower I began scouring the internet for fun new pattern ideas that would use a jelly roll or fat quarters. I found one at Missouri Star Quilting. (Tutorial link coming later) But, how could I justify buying new “fun”fabrics if I still had an abundance of my stash fabric. That’s when the idea of the great “No Scraps Left Behind” experiment was formed. The experiment was to attempt to use up every last piece of fabric from the jelly roll I bought so there would be nothing left behind. To my amazement I was able to create 30 items from that one jelly roll. It really got my creative juices flowing when I would finish one project and still have a piece of fabric left. Over the next few posts I will reveal the items I created using ONEjelly roll as my main fabric.

I hope you will find these ideas useful and you will begin your own experiment in “No Scraps Left Behind”. I would love to see your comments and ideas.

As my blog name says – Make More Pink Lemonade, from scraps that is. -- Danna