Jelly Roll Rug Tips

After finishing up my commissions and developing my new patterns, I needed to do some fun sewing.  I had bought a Jelly Roll of fabric by Cherry Blossoms and I have been intrigued by these Jelly Roll rugs that are being posted all over instagram.  I watched a bunch of Youtube videos for tips and decided to take the plunge.

I bought the pattern and the recommended  stripped batting from Oh Sew Sally, an on line store. The rolls of batting are hard to find and you need 2 of them.

I started working on the rug with my DIL over Labor Day weekend with my DIL.  She was using an orange batik jelly roll that I brought back from Bali for her. The biggest challenge is that everything wants to twist.  Avoiding this was my challenge.

The first step is to sew all the strips together as if you were making binding.  I didn't change the order of the  strips from the Jelly Roll, but next time I think I would. 

A tip that I saw several times was to stack of these strips and either place them on your lap or the table in front of your machine.  Encasing the batting in the strips is very well explained in the pattern.  To keep the batting from twisting, I used my paper towel holder.

And these are all balls .  As I rolled mine, I untwisted the tube.

I was too busy to put the rug together while we were at the lake and I'm glad I waited until I got home where my sewing machine is recessed in a table.  The table supported the weight and I was able to fold and roll the rug as it got larger.

The rug ends up a little wonky and wavy no matter how carefully you stitch.  A good steaming at the end flattens it out.

I have read that people wash them in the washing machine with great success. 

 I can't wait to make another.