stashbust jelly roll race - the finale

here we are, at the end of the jelly roll race road.

can you believe it?

there were time i thought we'd never make it... especially when it came to getting this blog post done!

sadly, my binding video didn't span out as expected (you'll see that at the bottom of this post) but nonetheless, the quilt is done and donated!

so here it all is!

i have to say these jelly roll race quilts turn out to be a great lap/couch size, and are the perfect quick quilt gift if you don't want to spend a whole lot of time chopping up pieces, and instead just want a cozy "look what i can do!" project.  and you don't even have to take the time to long arm it.<this having been my second jelly roll race quilt to do, i had a better idea of what to do vs. what not to do... i threw myself in the deep end by doing an orange batik one first.  and BOY was that an adventure!  as a refresher, my time on this one was about an hour to piece the top (minus pressing, since i did that at the very end) which was about the same time it took to do the batik one.  that one i had to seam rip, this one i was sweating to death... oops!i still love how the daisies look on this, and will absolutely use this pantograph again and again. i've got some baby girl quilts coming up soon, so they might just be the right match for it!in the end, even the binding came from my stash, which means nothing was spent on this beyond the time it took to rent on the long arm.  i cleared out some of my fabrics, which was nice (especially prior to our guild meeting with nadia arbach, professional declutterer).  now having done this, and having her lecture run in my head from time to time, i now feel a little more prepared to PURGE THAT FABRIC.

so fingers crossed for more stashbust creations along with the freedom to just let go of the dang fabric.  *cue elsa and the ice castle*

below you'll find the long waited final video, so hopefully it doesn't disappoint!  below that, you'll find the links to the other posts about this jelly roll race, since that will put the final pretty bow on this particular quilt and it can then officially be added to the quilt count!

stashbust jelly roll race - quilt top

stashbust jelly roll race - long arm quilting

quilt count: 136

the OG jelly roll race

in the midst of all the quarantine/bingo jelly roll racing, there was on that sat alone and neglected in my closet, waiting to be finished up and brought to life.  that almost sounds like a Pinocchio "real boy" situation, but it's pretty accurate am i right?

in 2017, i received my first jelly roll EVER after being part of maker monday for awhile, since it was handed out on the year celebration of the maker monday gang.  i was a few months behind from the original start date, but i love a good oprah-esque celebration.  "you get a jelly roll!  you get a jelly roll! EVERY-BODY GETS A JELLY ROOOOOOOOOOLL"

it was a shades of orange and yellow batik jelly roll, so it sat for a bit, waiting for the perfect idea.  and it sat... and sat... and sat some more.  in the following year or so, angelina hosted a jelly roll race which i had been dying to participate in.  i used that batik jelly roll plus a few strips to make it the full 42 to make this popsicle of a quilt. as far as the race goes, i finished in second place.  using batiks for my first one in a race setting proved difficult, since there is no true front or back side.  that meant there was quite a bit of ripping and resewing seams to get them in the correct direction for that first end to end seamline.  once it was done, it just went in the closet and sat.  quilt tops were folded on top of it as they came in and out, but this beast sat around.that is, until quarantine 2020 hit and i had a LOT of time on my hands during a wave of unemployment.  after i pulled lots of other things here and there, i ended up back at this beast and decided it was time to finish it up.

the back was pulled from inherited yardage, with a chunk added in to make it work.  or so i thought.  well, stay tuned for that info at the end.  when i went to long arm it, i found this feathery pantograph that was a perfect reflection of the prints in the fabrics themselves.  it quilted up pretty quickly, and the more i looked at it, the more i liked it more.  as i was trimming it up at my parents, i nearly convinced myself to keep it once it was bound.  i started calling it the mushu quilt, since it was orange and blue, just like a certain cat that inspired this blog title/logo art.after squaring it up and everything... well, just trimming the edges really... i think it is still a little lopsided... the hunt for binding was on.  at this point, i was willing to take anything that went with these colors, and on a trip to joann's, found this yellow batik that went quite well with it.  i suppose i could have gone for a scrappy binding, but that would have required even more of a fabric hunt!  after photographing this quilt, i left it with my parents to be donated to their church's humanitarian aide, since i really don't NEED another quilt... yet.  at least i will have this blog post to look back at, should i ever need to reminisce about the mushu colored jelly roll quilt.  well... mushu is kind of a jelly roll in himself

for the fun of it, and since i'm still trying to figure out this whole quilty video/vlog style of stuff, i recorded the quilting process of this as well.  check it out here:

i think my next video (once i get through what i have) will be more of a complete start to finish of a quilt.  i have a few baby quilts i haven't even done the pattern or fabric selection for, so that might be a fun start, especially since i work at a quilt shop now!

pattern: jelly roll race
quilt count: 134

stashbust jelly roll race - long arm quilting

so since we're all still dealing with this virus taking over our lives, i decided to continue to document the life and times of the 2020 jelly roll race.
last we saw, it was pieced and ready to go.
well, due to a series of events... i had the time to quilt on wednesday and after doing some intense piecing of batting, this quilt was ready to rock and roll!
i might have pushed my luck and apparently miscalculated batting width, but i BARELY made it.
well, you'll see...
the more i work on this quilt, the more i like it a whole lot more than just a random, semi coordinated jelly roll stashbust.  i know i said it in my video, but i honestly think this is a great quilt for a teen or young adult.  and the flowers turned out so cute, i'm going to quilt them again next week on something for my mom.  could have been today, but i forgot to piece the back in time.  whoops.
the next time you see this jelly roll quilt, it will be in the binding/final stages of life before i figure out where to sent it for it to have a new owner.
happy friday!

stashbust jelly roll race

so on the great quest of quarantine stash busting, i decided to see if i could task myself to come up with a 42 strip set equivalent to a jelly roll and complete a timed jelly roll race.  with our guild's 4 week long bingo, we've had quite a variety of different tasks to do, and this week we had a square to watch a jelly roll rug or race tutorial.  having done a jelly roll race in the past, i watched 3 of missouri star quilt company's jelly roll race videos on youtube and then decided to make it happen.
i went through my stash, generated a somewhat cohesive color palette of fabrics i already had (lots of stars... you can tell it's my fabric!) and got to chopping.  42 strips later, we had our faux jelly roll ready to go and i decided to film the entire thing.
first, here is the pull of fabrics.  also as proof that YES there are 42.  as i was zooming along sewing, it seemed like there wasn't 42 at some point... but once i got past a certain point with fabrics... i absolutely realized there most definitely was.
the last time i did a jelly roll race, it was just over an hour.  and that was even with all my mistakes using batiks and having to seam rip things because it got mixed around.  so this time, i also asked the internet what they would think it would take me.  i got responses from 55 minutes to upwards of 5 hours.  boy i cannot imagine sewing for 5 hours straight.
now the fun part.  since i recorded it all, you get to watch it!
don't worry, i sped up the sewing part like crazy
here it is!
in the end, as mentioned in the video, it took 1 hour and 10 minutes to sew.
since i had shut my door to reduce noise and pulled the blinds to eliminate weird outside light, i basically killed all air flow in to my room, which made it MUCH hotter in there.  ack. 
also... WHY DIDN'T I PUT MY HAIR UP?!?!
i feel like time was lost every moment i had to swish my bangs out of my face.
next time... all these details will be fixed.
this jelly roll race quilt will be donated once quilted, but in the meantime, here's a peek at what it looked like (beyond what you see in my lovely video skills)
do you feel challenged yet and ready to do your own jelly roll race?
I DARE YOU!
should i do another video post?
what kind of things should i record? more sewing? puzzle making? lego building? underwater basket weaving?  just kidding... the pool is closed, so i can't do that one.