Charity Quilt: Jelly Roll Race

Jelly Roll Race quilt courtesy of Aunt Betty.  

Some of this fabric came from Aunt Betty.  Okay.  Most of this fabric came from Aunt Betty.  Okay, all but one of these fabrics came from one of two different Aunt Betties.  

When I pulled this fabric from the bags a friend dropped off, I knew that it would make the perfect jelly roll race quilt.  These simple quilts are perfect for quick sewing (you can find a video tutorial on Missouri Star Quilt Co's YouTube channel).  Here is the pile pieced end to end on the diagonal and ready for the first pass through the sewing machine.

I started this late in the day, so I didn't get very far the first day.  This one isn't a standard jelly roll race.  When I got the piece to 8 strips wide I cut it into three pieces so I could make it a more manageable charity quilt length.  I picked this fabric (from a different Aunt Betty) for the backing.  

Since the top was too wide, I trimmed it down and used the trimmed piece to widen the backing fabric.  I didn't need to do this, but I thought it was a great way to use up that piece of fabric.

To pull the front and the back together I used some of the backing fabric to put a border around the center of the quilt top.  If I can, I load quilts onto the frame so the selvage edges run parallel to the top and bottom rails.  This gives me a naturally straight edge to pin the backing to the leaders.  I wrote a post about how I piece backings and how I load them onto the frame earlier in the year.

This quilt didn't get fancy quilting.  I looked at the top and thought it would look great with a large swirl. There are some points in there, too, but it isn't fancy.  The piecing hides most of it anyway.

The binding was made with a coordinating piece of fabric I found hiding in my stash.  I also used a bit left over from the border.  I really like the effect.

I think this one is great from the front or the back!

I folded it up and dropped it off at the December meeting of Annapolis Quilts for Kids.  I hope it finds a wonderful home.  Thanks, Aunt Betty!