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