Quick and Easy Jelly Roll Quilt Design - Week 4

 Can you believe we are in Week 4!  Wow!  Time is just flying by.  A couple things to mention:

Huge sale going on now!  Use coupon code "momsday20" at checkout for 20% 

off entire site through Tuesday at midnight!

And secondly I am going to the International Quilt Market on Wednesday!  I can not wait.  I will be taking classes, talking to all of our favorite designers and taking lots of picture of beautiful quilts and more.  Be sure to follow along here on the blog or facebook for daily updates!

Okay now for week 4!  Here again is the QAL schedule: 

Week 1 - piece and cut the strips **complete**

Week 2  - cutting and piecing the squares  **complete**

Week 3 - finishing the quilt top  **complete**

Week 4  - Backing and Binding

Week 5 - Quilting (optional)

Be sure to post your finished Quilt top on the 1 Choice 4 Quilting Group Flickr page by Memorial day for chance at winning an exclusive 1 Choice 4 Quilting Red, White and Blue FQB.....

Remember I am going to market next week so there may be some 

fabrics in this that won't be available for months =)

Okay so without further delay!   Please read all the way to Step 22 as there are some variations with the backing so you can choose what works best for you.

Step 16

Designing the backing

Now remember I told you to save the rest of your strips from your squares.  Here is where they come in.  Take the remainder of your 6 strips and make sure they are squared off.  Mine were 13" square. 

Now cut them in half so you have two pieces.  

Step 17

 Mix up your strips....trust me it will be fun.

Step 18

Sew three of the strips together so you end up with a piano key designed strip.  Repeat this step so you have two long strips.   

Step 19

Take the remaining four strips and sew two of each together.  Leaving you with two 24" strips.

Step 20

Since there are so many colors and designs in my Happy Go Lucky Jelly Roll, I choose to mix up my backing with two neutral Moda Bella Solids in American Blue 9900-174 and Gray 9900-83.

 

 I felt that this allowed my colors to really pop on the back.

 You can use two different coordinating fabrics or solids or one of the same.  It is totally up to you. 

Cut your fabric to 24 1/2" x 45".  You may need to vary this based on the size of your quilt top. 
If you have questions, comment below. 

Step 21

Sew on the shorter of your strips from step 19 to the top of the fabric and the other onto the bottom so you end up with a piece that looks like this.   Now originally I was going to do a straight piano key design around the back but.....no project of mine would be complete without some improvisation as I go along that ends up suiting my own personal style.  I also thought I needed to break up the blue.

Sew one strip to the bottom and one to the top. 

Strips on the bottom and top.  Leave it this way if you wish! Or go to step 22.

Step 22

Take your piece and abstractly slice it in three's.  You can pick the measurements but I cut mine at 12" and  22" for variation.  Sew the three pieces back together and you'll end up with this.....

Hate it?  No worries...you can use the piano key design if you wish,  just be sure to cut your center piece 3/4" shorter to make up the difference in the extra seams.

Step 23
Take your center piece and sew on your side bars from step 18.

Pin side onto center

Finsished center

Step 24

Add your borders around the outside.  And here is your finished backing!

 

Completed backing!

After I finished the back I thought to myself....this is a solution for anytime
you have leftover fabric strips. 

Finished Backing should measure the same as the front.  Mine is 66.5" x 46".
 
Step 25

I really love the new Happy Go Lucky Collection but unfortunately the yardage is not yet available so I used some Ruby Jitterbug Sherbert Yardage also by Bonnie and Camille that coordinated well with the prints and went well with gray in the backing.

You can bind your quilt in whatever way you are most comfortable with.

Can't wait until next week to give you a fun quilting technique!