Patterns

Can't find what you like? have an artistic vision? 

We have many designs and motifs that aren't pictured on our website - over 500 beautiful choices! 

  We can also complete a custom quilting project that will be one of a kind! We'd love to help you make your ideas come to life! 

Schedule a design consultation with us  by calling 234-263-7007 OR email us at nancyjeans@gmail.com 

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Minimum fee of $50 applies. Offer expires 12/31/2023

 Longarm quilting is the process by which a longarm sewhead is used to sew together a quilt top, quilt batting and quilt backing into a finished quilt.  It differs from a household sewing machine in two ways. One, the quilt frame can accommodate larger sized quilt tops that would be difficult to maneuver on a household sewing table. The second distinctive difference for long arm machines is that the quilt 'sandwich' remains steady while the sewhead  or sewing machine, moves over to quilt top securing stitches in a decorative pattern. 

Jelly Rolls and Directional Sewing

Up front: voice of experience here. As a quilter who first started as a garment sewist, I was used to consistently “easing” fabric to fit, both while sewing as well as pressing. Great for garments, not so great for quilt tops. So, believe me when I tell you that my first “jelly roll race” quilt top was a parallelogram rather than a rectangle. And did I mention the curl?!? 

So, here’s my take on jelly rolls- they belong to a group of items called pre-cuts. Pre-cuts come as 5-inch squares (charms), 10-inch squares (cake), and other cut portions of yardage. These items are sold and purchased pre-packaged. You don’t have to decide how much you want- no wait at the cutting table- just grab and go. I love the whole idea of precuts. Especially now that there are a multitude of unique patterns, many of which mimic classic piecing patterns. I also love the idea of purchasing strips or squares that represent a whole fabric collection/colorway. You are guaranteed your quilt will be coordinated.

Jelly rolls are precut collections of 2 and ½ inch width of fabric strips. The number of strips in a package varies from 24 to 40+, so be sure to check your pattern to purchase enough strips to complete your project.  The name comes from the fact that they are “rolled” up together for packaging and sale. The ends are staggered, so you can see the various prints or colors in the package. Little wheels of pretties; easy to stack and collect. 

If you plan on actually using them, here’s a couple of things to keep in mind. If you’re cutting them up to make squares, triangles or hexies, the following might not be a problem. But if your plan is to use the length of the strip or a long portion of the strip, be aware that jelly roll strips are cut from the width of the fabric, which means they S-T-R-E-T-C-H. Which brings us to the other part of this post -Directional Sewing. (See? I got there eventually!) 

Directional sewing means you are conscious of which direction you are stitching when joining pieces together. The term comes from garment sewing and refers to deliberately sewing in a specific direction, following the grain of the fabric. Directional sewing is done to minimize stretch or distortion of the fabric piecing while joining them together.  In the case of joining long jelly roll strips, all of the pieces are cut along the stretchy width of fabric. Easing and teasing those stretchy fabric strips will result in a wonky quilt top. So, here are my hard learned tips: 

Minimize handling. Place the strips together and guide them under the presser foot. If you have an even feed or differential feed foot, great; but for those of us who don’t; know your machine and adjust the top or bottom of the strip only enough to match edges. 

Join no more than 4 pieces in a series of strips. Then join the four strip units to other four strip units. 

If you are a “fiddler” and handle your fabric a lot, try stitching in opposite directions. Stitch 2 strips together, set aside and stitch the next two strips together. Join these 2 strip units together, but stitch in the opposite direction. Place the units together and then flip it end over end so you are beginning the seam on the side of the unit where you ended the first joining seams. 

Press carefully only after you have joined several strips/units together. There is less distortion when handling larger pieces of patchwork. 

Hopefully these tips will help you produce a flat rectangular quilt top!

(Here’s a link to creating an easy jelly roll race quilt top!) https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-trp-001&ei=UTF-8&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=trp&p=jelly+roll+race+quilt+pattern+free&type=Y143_F163_201897_021622#id=2&vid=c09da621c6f9e9ed190ca57de8d8070d&action=view 

Email me at nancyjeans@gmail.com and let me know your favorite tip for dealing with stretchy jelly roll strips!!!