The ancient peoples of the earth knew a lot about stars.
Egyptians watched for Sirius’ predawn appearance to signal the annual flooding of the Nile. Polynesian navigators traversed the vast Pacific Ocean with nothing but the stars to guide them. And the Maya used the movement of the heavens to create the most accurate calendar in the world.
I, on the other hand, struggle to spot the Big Dipper. (But I sure can stitch up a pretty star quilt!)
This week, Jenny has created a celestial wonder of her own with jelly roll strips and a bit of yardage. The Stargazer quilt comes together like a simple log cabin with snowballed corners. It’s quick, easy, and so fun to make!
In 1820 – for the very first time – thread was sold on spools. (Before that, it was skeins or hanks. Can you imagine the tangles?!)
The spools were made by a local woodturner, and the thread was wound by hand at the Clark Brothers’ factory in Paisley, Scotland. Like old fashioned soda bottles, these wooden spools came with an extra half-penny charge that was refunded when the empty spool was returned to the shop. My, how times have changed!
This week, Jenny is whipping up a homage to the magnificent spool with a brand new jelly roll quilt.
Spool Stars and Stitches starts like a classic fence rail with easy strip sets. Then, a bit of clever cutting transforms those basic strips into pretty little cross-stitch x blocks and stars made of spools! Click HERE to watch the tutorial!
In winter, quilts are for snuggling. We wrap them ‘round our shoulders like thick, cozy cocoons and pile them on our beds to stay toasty through the night.
But in summertime … those quilts take on a whole new life!
We carry them to picnics and t-ball games. We spread them out for fireworks and parades. They join us on camping trips and days at the beach. Summer is adventure time for quilts!
This week Jenny is working on a brand new Summer Squares quilt. It’s a pretty jelly roll pattern based on one of our all-time favorites, Summer in the Park.
(Be sure to watch all the way to the end of the video to catch a glimpse of this quilt made in solids + an adorable pillow made from the scraps!) Click HERE to watch the tutorial!
Did you know? The world’s biggest spool of thread is located right here in Hamilton, Missouri! It’s 22 feet tall, 8 feet wide, and wrapped with ONE MILLION yards of thread. Come for a visit, and you can add a few yards of your own!
Jenny’s Design
It’s no secret we love thread, so our newest Triple Play tutorial is all about spools! We’re using charm packs, layer cakes, and 2.5 inch strips to create big spools, little spools, and everything in between! Fun fact: Jenny’s larger-than-life spool quilt pattern is actually a jelly roll race, and it’s so fun to make!
Hi there. I am Becky Vandenberg from Be So Crafty, a blog devoted to all things sewing. Be So Crafty began last year when I wanted to use my fabric stash for a good cause, so I decided to sew 100 skirts in 100 days and donate them to a local charity that helps refugees in Utah. Sewing skirts everyday for 100 days was a fabulous experience that I plan to write about soon. Although I have been sewing for years, I only began making quilts abouts 3 years ago and LOVE it. So I was absolutely thrilled to be apart of this Tutorial Reboot series for Missouri Star. The quilt tutorial I have decided to reboot is Jenny’s Jelly Roll Race because it’s quick and simple and perfectly color coordinated, thanks to the use of precut jelly rolls.
First I unrolled that perfectly beautiful Jelly Roll and snipped off the selvage.
I followed Jenny’s advice in the video tutorial and kept the fabric strips in order; that means some of the same colors were touching and that is okay.
IMPORTANT NOTE: With solid fabric strips you have to be super mindful of the front of the strip and the back of the strip when you make the jelly roll quilt. “Right sides together” takes on a whole new meaning when there is no printed side. One important thing to remember: after you sew the diagonal line, turn the top strip over and then add the next strip.
With the beginning and end of the 1600” strip, place them right sides together and sew one LONG ¼” stitch making your 1600 inch strip into an 800 inch double side strip; basically fold the long strip in half (end to end) and sew down one side. Cut the fold to create a new “end” of the 800 inch strips and once again, fold the strips in half (end to end) and sew down one side. Cut along the fold and fold the quilt top end to end and sew down one side. Repeat this step a couple more times until you have the finished quilt top.
Follow the Jelly Roll Race video tutorial exactly and you cannot go wrong. That’s all I did.
In order to incorporate the fun airplane backing into the front of the quilt, I grabbed some big scraps from my stash and cut out an airplane applique.
Then I sent the backing and the Jelly Roll Race quilt top to the quilter because I wanted it done all fancy. However, this quilt can easily be quilted with some straight lines or all over stippling with your sewing machine.
To create the binding, I cut eight 2 ½ inch strips from the binding fabric and sewed them together exactly like I sewed the Jelly Roll Race fabric. This made a 240” strip (always make more than you think) which I folded in half and pressed with a hot iron. (Binding tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vCWpxBRs20)
Now I get to hand sew the binding. I grabbed some clips, red thread, a sharp needle, and a Diet Coke, and found myself a nice spot on the couch to watch a documentary while binding the quilt.
I am so happy with how this amazing baby quilt turned out! I love the solid color strips and how they turned out beautifully to look like the sky.
I will definitely be making more Jelly Roll Race quilts; this was such a fun project. Thanks for having me, Missouri Star!
