I love precuts! Whoever came up with this idea is in my opinion a creative genius!
I love the fact they are a cost-effective way I can take home a complete fabric collection in one pretty little bundle. BUT…I have to admit that in the not so distant past I have been known to shy away from Jelly Rolls simply because of the fact that for me they have been a little harder to ensure consistent accuracy when piecing a quilt.
I imagine that for some patterns 100% accuracy (or at least as close to that as humanly possible) isn’t such a big deal, but for other patterns it can be, and struggling with seams that don’t meet can be frustrating. I want my quilting time to be fun and creatively rewarding so rather than assume the strips are ready to sew straight from the roll I now take the time to check and prep my strips before I begin to sew.
Before I jump into how I like to achieve accurate strip sets let’s talk a little about the anatomy of a Jelly Roll™.
The term ‘Jelly Roll’ is a trademark of United Notions (Moda Fabrics). There are other similar products manufactured by other companies and they go by different names but I love sewing with Moda fabric and a Jelly Roll is primarily what I have experience sewing with, so for all intents and purposes I am using the term Jelly Roll here.
Each Jelly Roll is a compact bundle of 2 1/2″-wide strips cut across the width of the fabric (42″). Most Jelly Rolls contain 40 strips from one line of fabric, and depending on the designer’s collection may have one, two or a few duplicates to make up the number of strips.
If you look closely at a Jelly Roll you will notice that each strip has a pinked edge. This saw-toothed edge ensures the fibres in the cotton cloth don’t begin to unravel before you have had a chance to sew with the strips. I quickly did some online research to see what people were saying about the pinked edges and was surprised by the number of people who were actually avoiding precuts altogether because they weren’t really sure how to handle the pinking, AND by the number of different opinions on what ‘edge’ you should be using to line up your fabric.
In a perfect world each strip would measure 2-1/2″ from each pinked edge tip to tip, but all manufacturers are slightly different and in my experience a Jelly Roll strip might actually be 2-1/2″ from one outer tip to the valley of the opposite pinked edge. So if you want to achieve accuracy when sewing your strips together the first thing you need to do is check the size of your strips before you begin to sew.
Step 1: Line up your acrylic ruler (a 24″ one will work best) with the lines on your cutting mat.
If the strip is particularly holding its shape from being rolled, or if there are any little folds or creases I like to use some steam and quickly press the strip flat.
Lay the strip adjacent to your ruler and use the tips of your fingers to gently butt the tips of the strip up to the edge of the ruler. You may need to hold the ruler steady and gently tap the outside edge of the fabric starting at the base and moving slowly upward. Be sure to align both the top and bottom tips of the strip.
I keep my strip folded in half because it fits on my cutting mat and is easier to align the folded strip against the length of the ruler without having to move the strip.
(If you want to be extra fussy you could unfold the strip and complete the steps in two parts where you move the strip down and realign once you have trimmed the first half to the correct size – if that doesn’t yet make sense, read on and it will.)
Step 2: Be sure the bottom edge of your Jelly Roll strip is aligned with a horizontal line on your cutting mat.
If this line isn’t straight then you will most likely end up with a slight arc in your strip which will make accurate piecing difficult. This issue occurs more often when you cut your own strips and haven’t aligned the fold perpendicular with the straight edge of the fabric prior to cutting, but it is a good habit to check the overall alignment as you go. (If you have decided your preference is to work with an unfolded strip you would omit this step ;).
Step 3: Without disturbing the Jelly Roll strip’s placement on the mat, gently lift up your acrylic ruler and place it on top of the strip.
Carefully ensure the 2-1/2″ mark on your ruler lines up with the left hand edge of your Jelly Roll strip. At this point you should be able to determine accurately the overall width of your strip. As you can see from the images below this particular strip needs a tiny trim to ensure that the overall width is 2-1/2″.
Once I have used my rotary cutter to trim off the little ‘dog ears’ I will have a strip that is 2-1/2″ wide from the left edge of the pinked tip to the straight (or almost straight depending on how much excess needed to be trimmed) edge on the right.
Step 4: Top and tail your strips in preparation for sewing.
In order to have a straight edge guide for sewing you need to place your fabric strips right sides together and ensure the strip on the bottom has its pinked edge to the left (straight edge to the right) and the strip on top is in the opposite position. This means that you can align the straight edge of the strip on top (to the left) with the pinked edge tips underneath, and if all is well you should be able to see a straight edge peeking out from underneath the pinked edge (on the right) of the top strip as you can see in the image below. You can now use the straight edge to gauge your 1/4″ seam allowance. Sew your strip together aligning the edges as you sew.
Step 5: Press your strip set and check for accuracy.
Pressing is an important part of accurate piecing. Place the strip set on the ironing board just like you removed it from your sewing machine and quickly apply some steam to the closed strip set to ‘set the seam’. Setting the seam reduces the loft created by the actual stitches and helps to embed the stitches into the fabric, and the light steam helps to correct any small tension issues you may have had with the thread or the stitching.
Give it a few seconds to cool (so you don’t burn your fingers) and then flip one strip back while finger pressing the seam open to ensure no tiny folds are hiding in the join. Just prior to applying any heat check that your strip set appears straight on the ironing board and once you are confident the strips aren’t arcing turn your steam off and apply the iron with some heat in a gentle pressing motion.
By this stage you should have a perfectly pieced strip set, but before you begin sub cutting use a ruler to check your accuracy. If you align the 2-1/4″ mark with the centre seam you should find the overall width of the strips to now be 4-1/2 from edge to outer tip. If you are slightly out then most likely it is because you need to make an adjustment to your seam allowance and be sure it is measuring a scant 1/4″.
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There is an awesome world of Jelly Roll patterns out there – I hope this quick tutorial gives you the confidence to decide to make something today.
Remember, there is really no need to be scared of the tiny pinked edges – with a little love and some attention they will happily fall into line ;).
Below you can see a sneak peek of my latest Jelly Roll friendly pattern. It’s called ‘Cherry Tree Lane’ and will be available soon.
My favourite Jelly Roll pattern would have to be my Going Places quilt I designed for my son to replicate a quilt he had when he was small. This is a great simple to piece queen sized quilt (but could easily be made smaller) and I have been considering making it again for my own bed using a Little Miss Sunshine by Lella Boutique Jelly Roll and some solids. If you would like to make your own version of this pattern you can purchase it here – and as a thank you for stopping by and reading my blog you can use the coupon code JR50 to pick it up for half price 🙂
Do you have a favourite precut or precut pattern? What’s your experience sewing with precuts? Do you remember the first precut you purchased? (Mine was a Bonnie and Camille ‘Vintage Modern’ Layer Cake.)
I love to know you have dropped by so leave me a quick comment and say ‘hi’ :).
Until next time – Happy sewing!
Samantha
PS: My computer tells me today’s ‘word of the day’ is Inchoate, which means imperfectly formed.
So here’s to wishing now that you have read this post your Jelly Roll quilts will never be inchoate ;). – I learnt something new today, and maybe you did to 🙂 – Have a great day!
Pam L says
When I first started quilting 2 years ago I wondered about those Pre-cuts with the pinked edge. I didn’t want to ask because I didn’t want to look ignorant about the measurements of the many pre-cuts I wished to buy.
Great article, very well written and explained. I will do some checking before I cut into my next jelly roll! Thank you.
Samantha says
I felt the same way Pam! Precuts are both wonderful and daunting the first time you discover them, but they are definitely worth persevering with so you become comfortable sewing with them. I can’t imagine quilting without them these days.
Anne Boundy says
A good article! Well explained. I love JR strips and have created a few of my own quick patterns too 😊
My first pre-cut was a Winter’s Lane layer cake. Sigh. My fave of all time!!
Samantha says
Thanks Anne. Jelly Rolls seem to be the perfect precut for ‘quick’ projects – and I think it’s awesome that you are designing patterns with them too. I love using that side of my creative brain, and designing with precuts in mind can definitely be a creative challenge :).
Michelle says
Wow, Samantha! That was so detailed! I must admit those pinked edges do my head it (mostly from charm squares), and I change around how I deal with them every time. So now, I shall be measuring and hopefully having more accurate piecing.
I’m pretty sure my first pre-cut was a Bonnie and Camille April Showers jelly roll!
Samantha says
I think being aware there are inconsistencies is the first step to being better able to accurately sew with them Michelle! Surprisingly I don’t often use Charm Squares, but I do have a few waiting for me to turn them into something…!
Margaret wade says
I have read you tour and have got more confidence with my jelly roll thanks
Samantha says
Happy to be of some help, Margaret.
Donna C says
Great article! It’s kinda of annoying that these strips aren’t consistent…one of the reasons to buy them is accuracy and of course time-saving! ugh
That said, I did measure one strip of one jelly roll just to see if I should use the peak or the valley as my edge…the peak was 2 ½ inches so I went by that. I’m too lazy to measure and recut the whole thing! Ha!
I will definitely use your tip and turn off the steam after you set the stitches. I think that really will make a difference in avoiding the arch 😊
I don’t recall my first jelly roll purchase…it wasn’t even that long ago! Love all your work! Beautiful!
Samantha says
Thanks Donna! I do love steam but there is a time and a place for it ;). Hope your strip sets press out beautifully next time – I really think finger pressing beforehand is the key to success.
Jeanne says
Very helpful. I’m excited to retry a JR pattern I once made. I bet it will turn out much better this time! 🙂 Thank you.
Samantha says
You are welcome Jeanne – I hope you have better success the second time around :).
Sheila says
I’m just catching up on your tutorials and I love this! I’ve made lots of quilts using the various pre-cuts and I love jelly rolls but have struggled with the size consistency with certain patterns. I had recently started to trim each individual piece but your method of resizing the strip makes way more sense. Thank you!
Samantha says
Thanks for your comment, Sheila. I am happy to have been of some help.
Liz Blois says
Thank you for going through this for us,I just made a baby quilt with a jelly roll and had to do so much stretching and easing to make it fit, not sure if it was the width of the JR or my seam allowance but a little on both would make a huge difference, I’ll be measuring and trimming from now on. I guess if we consider the benefit of pre-cuts is to have a whole fabric range without having to buy loads of fabric then they are our friends but maybe we shouldn’t expect them to be accurately cut as well.
I have just found your website through Amy at Diary of a Quilter and its so pretty and inspirational, I have now subscribed.
My first Jelly roll was a Bonnie & Camille too, it was Marmalade and I made their Spools pattern quilt with it.
Samantha says
Hi Liz – yes, precuts are awesome for the fabric variety so it is in my opinion a small trade-off having to check the accuracy of the pieces. Thanks for popping by and subscribing! xx
Susan Krueger says
I am a brand new sewer! I have tried the Jam Jelly Quilt and the pieces never seems to match. I was NOT smart enough to check the width — just believing it was a perfect 2-1/2″. Now, checking I find that not to be true… some are closer to 3″ some are closer to 2-1/2 in the same roll. WOW! I sure wasted alot of money and wish the introduction to the pattern had suggested checking the width!
Samantha says
Oh Susan, that is so disheartening when you are just learning how to quilt! At least now you know that those imperfections you encountered are something that can be improved on the next time you use precut strips. Wishing you all the best for your new adventure into the wonderful world of quilting 🙂
Donna Kluck says
I have had 2 negative experiences with pre cuts so really try to avoid them. The first one was using charm packs for a king size quilt. The packs I ordered were not all created equally. Some in the packs weren’t even 5″ from peak to peak! I had to re order a lot more just so I could finish the quilt for my son and his new wife for their wedding. The pattern called for them to be cut in half…..making them 2 1/2 by 5. All of the fabric in the cut needed to be used in the pattern so there was no wiggle room. I was weak and decided to try another one with charm packs….a crib size one this time…..same thing! It’s so frustrating trying to be creative when not given enough fabric to finish the project. I wish manufacturers would cut them measuring from valley to valley. Also, I know this is getting picky but sewing fabric from peak to peak instead of valley to valley does compromise the seam a tad. It is no longer a 1/4″ seam. The thing I DO like about pre cuts is the variety of fabrics in the pack. It makes shopping for fabric easier and quicker.
Samantha says
Hi Donna, it is hard to love precuts when you have had negative experiences with them, but I believe once we are aware that they are not the ‘perfect’ size it becomes easier to work with them. I do agree with you that it would be awesome if the pinked edges were outside the intended size, but I have learnt to always check the measurements, and have found that some manufacturers are more reliable than others. I hope you have better experiences with precuts moving forward because they make more some beautiful quilts 🙂
Suzie Davis says
Hi from Texas! I sincerely appreciate this tutorial on using Jelly Rolls. I am hoping to get started on the ‘right foot’ and avoid frustration. This will be my first quilt.
Samantha says
Thanks Suzie! Good luck with your first quilt. Jelly rolls can be a little frustrating at times, and yet at other times there’s no problem with them. Either way they are worth a little extra time and patience to check the size, because then you have a whole collection of fabric at your fingertips 😍