23+ Shortcut Quilt Patterns for Jelly Roll 2.5″ Strips: All Free!
When I am starting a new project, jelly roll quilt patterns are almost always my first choice. If you have spent much time at your sewing machine, you can probably guess why—I would much rather spend my time sewing those pretty strips together than standing at the cutting table with a rotary cutter! Wouldn’t you?
The jelly roll quilts I am sharing here all show different styles, from detailed and modern designs, to beginner jelly roll quilt ideas. You will be amazed at the many creative precut fabric quilt patterns you will find here. So scroll through, pick out your favorite, and sew another work of art.
Confetti Quilt Pattern
The Confetti Jelly Roll Quilt Pattern is all about strip piecing to combine color and movement, creating a playful “sprinkle” effect across your quilt top that looks much more intricate than it actually is.
The Pippi: Quilt A Sunset!
Our friends at Duckadilly designed this gorgeous rainbow quilt using a jelly roll of Liberty fabrics. Liberty Tana Lawn fabrics are wider than regular quilting fabrics. If you’ve never tried them, they are also super soft and luxurious! Check the Duckadilly downloads page for the pattern.
Pro-Tip: Managing “Bowed” Seams in Strip Piecing
Sewing long strips together can sometimes lead to “bowing” or a curvy quilt top. To keep everything nice and straight, I suggest alternating the direction of your seams.
If you sew the first two strips from top to bottom, sew the next strip from bottom to top. This simple change in direction counteracts the natural “push” of the sewing machine and helps your quilt stay square and flat.
Jelly Roll Railway Quilt
The Railroad Crossing quilt block is a classic pattern that most quilters will easily recognize. Try it with jelly roll strips and make this darling railway quilt. It’s a fun scrappy strip quilt tutorial!
Jelly Roll Race: A Quick Weekend Quilt
Learn how to sew a jelly roll race quilt in no time! The free pattern from Jordan Fabrics adds just a few solid colors to break up the strips, but if you leave those out it’s even faster. Here’s the video tutorial to walk you through the process. Her free pattern is in the description, but it’s worth it to watch the video first. Donna has lots of helpful tips to making sure that you love the finished product.
Jelly Roll Race Secret: Sizing
This type of quilt is VERY easy to size up or down. The secret to sizing a jelly roll race quilt is all in the total length of your initial fabric chain. A standard 40-strip roll usually results in a lap-sized quilt around 50″ x 64″, but you can easily scale this up or down by adjusting your strip count.
For a quick stroller-sized baby quilt, I start with just 20 strips, while a generous twin-size usually requires closer to 65 strips to get the width and drape you want. If you find your quilt is getting too long and skinny as you sew, you can simply stop a “fold” early or add a wide border to reach your final target dimensions without any stress.
Quilt as You Go (QAYG): Perfect for Leftovers!
QAYG quilts are easy to size up or down. It’s not the same as strip piecing a normal quilt top. If you have never done it, consider trying it out! This free strip quilt pattern includes a video tutorial to show you how to make your quilt reversable!
Grandma’s Lattice Jelly Roll Quilt Pattern
In my free Grandma’s Lattice quilt pattern I will show you a fast strip piecing tutorial. The technique is so much faster than cutting 2 1/2” squares and sewing them all together (which is fun, too – I did that for this scrappy patchwork quilt). This print is True Kisses fabric from Heather Bailey.
Rails and Ribbons Quilt Pattern
This Rails and Ribbons quilt pattern comes from The Sewing Loft. If you are looking for a worthy cause, this throw size quilt pattern meets all the requirements of the Quilts of Valor program for veterans. Now is a perfect time to start on a patriotic quilt.
Hexaround – No Y Seams Needed!
When you sew fabric together there are endless ways to cut and arrange the pieces. You might be surprised to see how this quilt is assembled with 2.5 inch strips. Check out the free pattern and video tutorial. You will need a total of 72 jelly roll strips to make this quilt top. It finishes at a throw size of 60” x 64”.
Blueberry Pie: Use Your Low-Volume Strips
Sew up this beautiful Blueberry Pie jelly roll quilt quicker than you think! I combined the traditional log cabin piecing technique with a modern design.
Pro Tip: Using Low-Volume Fabric
Notice how I used a whole bunch of low-volume cream fabrics and then tone-on-tone blue fabrics for the ‘pie’ shapes? Read all my tips for using low-volume fabrics in this blog post.
Jelly Roll Relish Quilt
The Jelly Roll Relish is, of course, a free pattern. The colors make the title very appropriate, and you will love sewing this quilt top together!
Scrappy Triangles Free Quilt
Melissa’s free Scrappy Triangles Quilt Pattern is a lap-quilt. You only need those three yards of jelly roll!
Sunny Trips Jelly Roll Quilt Pattern
This gorgeous design by Karin Vail finishes at a whopping 90” x 90”. You will use three print jelly rolls and one solid jelly roll. Check out the Sunny Trips pattern.
Modern Jelly Roll Kisses Pattern
Jelly Roll Kisses free quilt pattern is a delightfully simple yet stunning jelly roll design that finishes at a generous 80” x 80”. If you’ve got a couple jelly rolls (or a stash of 2 1/2” strips) just waiting for the perfect project, then this is it. Blue and cream is a beautiful combination. Throw some splashes of red in for a patriotic flair!
Jelly Roll Twirl Quilt
This fun quilt is called Jelly Roll Twirl. I love the playful use of color and interesting layout of strips.
Jelly Roll Jam Baby Quilt Pattern
If you are just starting to sew or need a quick project, try the Jelly Roll Jam baby quilt. Amy has some great tips in this tutorial.
Jelly Roll Slice Quilt
Here’s another favorite free quilting pattern called Jelly Roll Slice. It’s amazing to me how playing with color changes the quilt, even when using the same pattern.
Kisses Quilt: My Favorite Modern Design
Here is a fast and easy free quilt pattern. I used a beautiful Kaffe Fasset jelly roll to sew a scrappy version of this modern geometric quilt.
Candy Corn Therapy Quilt
My Candy Corn Therapy free quilt tutorial includes instructions for using a jelly roll at the end. You can use other width of strips, just keep in mind that it will affect the finished size and other elements of the design will need to adjusted if they aren’t strips too.
Nine Patch Jelly Roll Quilt
This cute summer nine patch block quilt turned out so cute; I love the little animal faces! Jelly rolls make great nine blocks. Arrange them however you want, and then sew them together with contrasting strips.
Jelly Roll Jam 2: For ONE Jelly Roll
If you loved the Jelly Roll Jam quilt, you’ll love Jelly Roll Jam 2! It’s quick and great for beginners. Here’s my post so you can sew two quilt tops with one jelly roll.
Ma Maison Quilt
Check out this pattern that Cheryl Brickey designed for Moda. Can you imagine the possibilities? It measures 48” x 56” and only requires one jelly roll, and 3/4 yard of background fabric. See the Ma Maison Quilt Pattern.
Jelly Roll Strip Quilt
This strip quilt pattern comes together quickly; you can make a lap-sized quilt in just a day. I am a fan of the time-saving element of the jelly roll.
Pro-Tip: Adding Borders for Extra Length
Sometimes, even with the right number of strips, you might find your quilt is just a few inches short of your goal. I love adding a wide border or even a “piano key” border using leftover 2.5 inch strips to bridge the gap. It is a great way to use up every last bit of your fabric bundle while ensuring the final quilt fits your bed perfectly.
Woven Hearts Quilt
Here’s a beautiful free quilt pattern to get you started. It’s called Woven Hearts quilt. The whole quilt isn’t made of jelly roll, but it uses plenty of strips for the heart pieces. It’s a beautiful design that finishes at 57″ by 74″.
Patchwork Quilt with Strip Piecing Technique
Are you thinking you would like to come up with your own quilt design? I’ll show you how to make Patchwork Quilt Blocks using my crazy fast technique. It’s the quickest free tutorial ever! Here’s my how-to video tutorial for quick and easy strip piecing.
For Beginners: What is a Jelly Roll Bundle?
A jelly roll is a fabric bundle of 2.5″ wide strips cut WoF (width of fabric) from cotton quilting fabric. Is it worth it to buy them? Here’s the math: One yard of fabric will yield 14 WOF (width of fabric) strips, so one jelly roll contains three yards of fabric that’s already cut for you.
Most fabric companies, including Moda Fabrics, Riley Blake, Free Spirit, Robert Kaufman, and QT Fabrics, offer their fabric collections in jelly roll strip sets. It’s a great way to get a variety of colors and prints that you know will coordinate beautifully. I also enjoy seeing all of the designs in a collection all in one place.
Solid jelly rolls, sold in many colors, are also becoming popular. They are great for matching the background of your quilt. Then, you can easily add 2” sashing or a quick 2” border to your quilt.
Pro-Tips For Sewing With a Jelly Roll:
- Be sure you use an accurate 1/4″ seam allowance. Here are some ideas if you have trouble keeping it straight.
- Precut jelly roll strips are cut across the width of the fabric, so don’t confuse them with bias strips.
- Save time sewing your own quilt binding by using a jelly roll! Here’s a video tutorial to show you how to sew continuous bias binding using a fat quarter. You can use this tutorial for sewing quilt binding with your jelly roll. Just skip the cutting step!
How to Cut Your Own Strips:
For ease and speed, I love using my Accuquilt Go! fabric cutter with the 2 1/2” strip die. I fold the fabric over to cut up to 6 layers at once! Accuquilt dies are available for all of the common precut strip dimensions, plus charm squares, layer cakes, and hexagons.
You can also cut your own jelly roll strips using a cutting mat, a long acrylic ruler, and a rotary cutter. Special strip cutting rulers are also designed to make cutting strips very easy. I have used the Creative Grids Stripology ruler, and I love how easy it is to cut strips of ALL widths; there are markings on the bottom with symbols so you don’t mess up your math.
Finish the Look!
Now that your top is done, learn 7 Easy Ways to Finish a Quilt With Straight Line Quilting and a Walking Foot for a beautiful finish.
More from SewCanShe:
15 Free Quilt Patterns Using 10″ Pre-Cut Squares: Layer Cake Bundles!
10 Free Quilt Patterns For 5” Squares: Charm Bundles!
Take Flight! 20+ Stunning & FREE Modern Flying Geese Quilt Patterns
Disclosure: some of my posts contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of those links I may receive a small commission, so thank you for supporting SewCanShe when you shop! All of the opinions are my own and I only suggest products that I actually use. 🙂