Sewing Patriotic Jelly Rolls into QOV quilt tops w/Updates

Starting the New Year off right by tackling another project that's been on my bucket list for quite a while - a patriotic jelly roll quilt!  Here's one in progress on one of my very favorite vintage Singers:

Singer 15-91 sewing patriotic jelly roll strips

 Since I've volunteered to host a National Quilt of Valor Sew Day in my area on February 1, 2014 AND while setting that up also agreed to become a 4-H youth SPIN leader, sharing how to make Quilts of Valor quilts, decided our first project should be FUN and fairly simple, with a stunning finished quilt product.  After doing some research, which jogged my memory about the recent jelly roll quilt races:

 

Jenny of Missouri Star Quilt Company demonstrates 'how' to make a jelly roll quilt from start to Finish!

And thought well gee, we could do that with 'patriotic jelly rolls', add a few borders to get these Quilts of Valor jelly roll quilts up to QOV Standards of Excellence and voila - we'd have some really neat patriotic QOV jelly roll quilts, and our local youth would not only learn a few sewing/quilting skills, but the incredible experience of volunteering their time to help create Quilts of Valor for our deserving Veterans...Win/Win!

There are only a few things one needs to learn AND remember while constructing these fast and FUN jelly roll quilts, and one is to chop off the first 18" or so of one of the first strips prior to laying down your first run of stitches, and I'll explain in a few.  I didn't have a problem remembering to do this on the first jelly roll quilt.

However, Please raise your hand if you forgot to do it on the second one and had to rip!  You know how you know if you forgot?  When you get to that first set of seams and they line up...duh?!?  They're supposed to stagger/be off-set, mine weren't!  Dang - after ALL these years of sewing, (longer than many of you have been breathing), I STILL HATE TO RIP!  But, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do if she wants to get back to sewing!

TIP:  If you don't have one of these 18" strips sitting next to your sewing machine prior to running that first pass of stitches for your first seam, STOP and whack off that piece!

the 18" whack-off piece - notice the 'ripped stitches' on the left side...

Alrighty then,  now that the ripping is completed and the whacking of the 18" piece has ensued, back to sewing:

Sewing the first patriotic jelly roll strips together - first pass on my FUN Bernina...

Chain piecing the strips altogether

And clipping and trimming the strips apart and trimming those seam allowances:

Trimming joining seams

Jenny uses scissors, I prefer rulers, rotary cutter & mat - BOTH work great!

I've been putting ALL my nice-sized trimmings into a collection box that will be shipped to those really neat folks over at Quilts Beyond Borders, just as soon as it's really good and FULL, which won't be too much longer:

Trimmings to be sent to Quilts Beyond Borders

 And now for the reveal, drum roll Please ;-)

First patriotic jelly roll quilt top - all ready for red/white/blue borders!

I'm thinking all-over 'STARS', like what was applied to Chris's Quilt of Valor for the quilting using Rainbows Patriotic variegated...still pondering.  I'll make that final quilting decision AFTER those borders are added.

2nd patriotic QOV jelly roll quilt top ready for borders

And this colorful Quilt of Valor should benefit from the newest panto released from urbanelementz.com, Soar - with all of its incredible movement, Soar should give this quilt its final quilting due.

For now, time to get back to sewing and of course quilting - just about finished with that stunning Quilt of Valor...
~Deb


UPDATE 2/20/2014:  Borders added to patriotic jelly roll QOV #1:

3 Red/White/Blue borders added prior to quilting