I have been stitching away on these super easy, fun blocks for the past couple of days. This fabric line is so darn cute. I chose the pattern Cafe Au' Laite from Heather Mulder Petersen's book Let the Good Times Roll. Heather's pattern calls for one jelly roll and a couple of charm packs. I happened to have one jelly roll and one layer cake from the Bistro collection by Deb Strain for Moda that I got on sale at Fatquartershop.com.
There are two distinct color ways in this fabric line (blue/aqua and red/black). The two color ways were not really working together for me, so I got to wondering if I had enough fabric for two quilts.
Guess what? I did!
That extra that was left over from the layer cake, gave me plenty of fabric to make a few more blocks in each color way. The pattern as made in Heather's book gives you one 66" by 85 5/8" quilt with blocks arranged 6 across and 8 down, plus borders. With my extra fabric, I got 40 blocks out of each color way, and will position my blocks 6 across and 6 down. I'll use the 4 extra blocks in the border as Heather shows in her pattern. I am guessing that my quilts will turn out about 66" square, once I get the borders on. The perfect size for lap quilts.
By the way, this pattern would be excellent for a beginning quilter. Heather, whom you may know as "Anka's Treasures" has a good number of quilting books and patterns to her credit. All of them feature clear and consise instructions, and very good drawings and photographs. Many of her publications feature ideas on how to use jelly rolls, charm packs and layer cakes.
For those of you who are new to quilting, a jelly roll is a round bundle of 40 2 1/2" x 42" strips from a specific fabric collection. A charm pack is approximately 30 to 40 5" squares from a fabric collection and a layer cake is 40 10" squares from a collection. Usually you get one piece of each design in the line in these specialty packs. It is such fun to see what you can do with these economically priced little bundles of fun.
And if you are a fabriholic like I am, collecting a few charm packs or a jelly roll of an entire fabric collection can go a long way in satisfying your craving for the latest new thing in fabric. And if you are budget challenged, as I also am, buying these treats won't do much harm.
I read recently that Moda is now going to come out with Honey Buns ( 40 1 1/2" strips) and Turnovers (80 6" triangles). It boggles my mind how so many creative quilt designers such as Heather Mulder-Petersen and Carrie Nelson (creator of "Schnibbles") keep coming up with new and different ways to use these fabric cuts!
Charm pack (5" sqaures):
Layer cake (10" squares):
Jelly rolls (2 1/2" strips):
14 responses to “More is More”
Beautiful! And bonus that you’re getting two quilts out of the deal!
Jen
Beautiful! And bonus that you’re getting two quilts out of the deal!
Jen
Thanks for explaining all this…I am new to quilting and always wondered what the difference was.
Now, I know…I might have to print this out for reference.
Marlene
Thanks for explaining all this…I am new to quilting and always wondered what the difference was.
Now, I know…I might have to print this out for reference.
Marlene
Nicole, I really love the quilts you are making with this fabric line. Beautiful…I think the red/black is going to be my favorite, it is so stricking, but they are both so great and the combinations really “pop”. By the way, I saw something wonderful the other day that I can’t wait to check out, maybe you have seen them…a new jelly roll that is a wider width, either 5″ or 8″ (senior moment here, sorry) but what a great idea for a delightful pieced border. I don’t recall the specific design but it was of course Moda and my brain was on overload with the possibilities of having the wider jelly roll along with the 2 1/2″ jelly roll and charm packs or layer cakes in one of their beautiful designs. Such fun. I have two sets of Moda Jelly Rolls and charm packs and I can’t wait to start a project with them. I have been watching for just the right one and the pattern you used for these 2 quilts really speaks to me. Lord knows I need lap quilts, for a health issue, I’m so cold all the time. Thanks so much for the info.
Nicole, I really love the quilts you are making with this fabric line. Beautiful…I think the red/black is going to be my favorite, it is so stricking, but they are both so great and the combinations really “pop”. By the way, I saw something wonderful the other day that I can’t wait to check out, maybe you have seen them…a new jelly roll that is a wider width, either 5″ or 8″ (senior moment here, sorry) but what a great idea for a delightful pieced border. I don’t recall the specific design but it was of course Moda and my brain was on overload with the possibilities of having the wider jelly roll along with the 2 1/2″ jelly roll and charm packs or layer cakes in one of their beautiful designs. Such fun. I have two sets of Moda Jelly Rolls and charm packs and I can’t wait to start a project with them. I have been watching for just the right one and the pattern you used for these 2 quilts really speaks to me. Lord knows I need lap quilts, for a health issue, I’m so cold all the time. Thanks so much for the info.
wow, dualing quilts! I like them both, I cannot decided which is prettier!
wow, dualing quilts! I like them both, I cannot decided which is prettier!
Fabric, fabric, fabric! Aaaahhhhh! That is a great pattern.
Fabric, fabric, fabric! Aaaahhhhh! That is a great pattern.
You know, I would have never used those fabrics, either, Nicole! But now that I’ve seen what you’ve done with them….there’s no excuse NOT to use them – LOL!!
Cheers!
You know, I would have never used those fabrics, either, Nicole! But now that I’ve seen what you’ve done with them….there’s no excuse NOT to use them – LOL!!
Cheers!
This is great! Enough fabrics for 2 quilts–very clever thinking! I love this line and have a charm pack quilt “in a bag” ready to go when I get to it.
This is great! Enough fabrics for 2 quilts–very clever thinking! I love this line and have a charm pack quilt “in a bag” ready to go when I get to it.