This easy jelly roll-friendly quilt pattern is a beginner’s dream. You can also use 2-1/2″ strips from your stash. Make it in a weekend!
“Play Ball” is quilted, bound, and the pattern is in my Etsy shop! I made it in two days during a quilt retreat in March. I did not have to do a lot of cutting because I used a jelly roll with 42 strips of fabric, plus a few more to complete all the blocks.
It measures 69″ x 76″, with the blocks finishing at 6″ and the cornerstones finishing at 2″. Denise Cornett from Southern Quilts (Instagram: @southernquilts) picked the perfect quilting motif for this project. My grandson Alex chose the backing fabric.
The white background makes all the prints stand out. The extra prints I needed came from my stash and coordinated well with the jelly roll collection – winner! I like the scrappy look, don’t you? Now, I am trying to remember the name of the collection the jelly roll came from… no can do. It was by Moda Fabrics, for sure. Do you know it?
This pattern works well for prints that have medium or small scale motifs. I placed the background fabric on the border so the balls would seem to be floating in the air. The alternating blocks remind me of a diagram the soccer coach would draw when planning where the players should go on the field.
The 9-patch blocks (the ‘balls’) have background fabric on the corners, and the other blocks have different black prints that were in the jelly roll or in my stash. I was listening to an audio book the whole time I was sewing the blocks together because I was chain piecing everything I could. Fun!
Use this jelly roll-friendly quilt pattern to make a quilt to brighten your home decor or as a gift for a loved one. You can customize it by choosing colors according to a theme (Easter, Halloween) or to your friend’s taste if you are going to give it as a house-warming or birthday gift. For a child, use all the novelty fabrics you have!
“Play Ball” can be found in my Etsy shop for an easy download. If you prefer a not-so-scrappy look, make the alternating blocks with the same colors – it will calm it down a little. My goal, however, was to design a quilt that might work with the jelly rolls that we purchase and put away because we may not have a pattern for them, or to use leftover strips from other projects.
If you have loads of 2-1/2″ and 1-1/2″ fabric strips, this pattern will put them to good use. I bet you will make more than one quilt if your stash looks anything like mine… But, if you ‘need’ to go shopping for jelly rolls, Connecting Threads has many on clearance right now [Affiliate link. If you purchase anything after clicking on that link, I may earn a small percentage, at no additional cost to you].
For more scrappy quilts, check out Here and There, Suede Satchel, and Victorian Fans. I love them all! Any of these patterns will look great with prints, novelty fabrics, or batiks. Victorian Fans is for paper piecing; the other two are for regular piecing.
It is very hot here today. The AC is busted and technicians are too busy to answer calls. Toby, the dog, has just been stung by a yellow jacket. I think I am calling it a day!
Enjoy your 4th of July holiday!
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