From time to time I buy a jelly roll but don’t have a particular pattern in mind to use it. Sometimes I will cut it up and make a “choose your own adventure” quilt. For these quilts, I piece some strips together, make some nine-patches, then piece the parts together into vertical rows with sashing between them.
I wondered if this freestyle technique would work with a layer cake since I had one with no plan in mind. This Portsmouth line of fabric with its soft patriotic colors and nautical theme is so pretty. It is the same fabric I previously used for this variable star tutorial. To make this quilt, I cut most of the 10″ squares into 2″ strips, sub-cut some of these strips into 2″ squares, and cut the larger motifs into 6-1/2″ x 10″ blocks.
Once the layer cake was all cut, I simply pieced random blocks. Some blocks are long strips, some short strips, and some are checkerboard. I did not plan anything out. After sewing all the fabric into blocks, I distributed the blocks into seven rows. It took a little bit of shuffling to make sure all the rows were the same length. Once that was accomplished, the blocks were sewn into rows. I used a denim-colored fabric to sash the rows.
You will have to trust me that this quilt is finished and I promise to post a picture of the whole thing next week. I am staying downtown Minneapolis this week in my daughter’s apartment and there is really no place to take quilt pictures. When I post that picture I will go into a little more detail about the piecing. It is a fun way to use a layer cake or jelly roll!
