Monday, May 30, 2016

Little Ruby Quilt {Jelly Roll} QAL

Little Ruby quilt along


Fat Quarter Shop and Camille Roskelley have teamed up to bring you the Little Ruby quilt pattern. It uses 2.5″ strips, or a jelly roll or two, plus the new Creative Grids 60 degree Double Strip Ruler and the Creative Grids Hexagon Trim Tool.  When Fat Quarter Shop asked if I’d like to join the quilt along, the pattern caught my eye, but the real draw was that the pattern makes TWO quilts from all the triangles you cut to make the hexagons.  Since I have TWO matching chairs in my family room, how could I resist making two quilts.
 (Quilt A is shown above, hang tight for more details on the second one)


Little Ruby QAL fabric
Part one?  Choosing fabrics! Little Ruby quilt pattern yields, what I call, a generous lap quilt, at 65″ x 72″, using two jelly rolls. You can also purchase a Little Ruby quilt kit if you really love Camille's line!

I, however, was looking for a something that fit my needs.  I needed what I'm calling my Summer Quilts.  I have always associated red, white and blue for the summer.  It always seems to start with Memorial Day in the beginning, end with Labor Day, while Fourth of July is sandwiched in the middle.

If you have been following me for a bit, this isn't the first time I've joined Fat Quarter Shop on a blog hop for one of their quilts.  Before they ever asked me to participate in one, I had already used their Simply Fat Quarters book for three patterns (Poppy, Marbles, and Thistle).  I love the simplicity of their patterns. They also seem to break up what can be, sometimes, a tedious process into a simple and enjoyable way.  

Their videos are excellent companions for those who need more visual instructions. 
 Personally?  I just think Kimberly is a doll! Here is the part one video:




My Quilt

I have had a huge crush on Kate Spain by Moda Fabrics, as of late.  In particular, the Aria line.  I'm sure you can guess it might have something to do with the butterflies. I particularly love that it had the red, white and blue I was looking for, but also a companion green.
 

  I couldn't resist the Aria Butterflies in Rose and Water for my backings.  The tiny flowers in  Aria Rose Abloom and Aria Navy Abloom seemed the perfect binding.

Instead of Jelly Rolls, I opted to purchase some Moda Bella White Solid by the yardage, because I needed to bulk up my background stash, and let's be honest...its cheaper to cut the strips yourself. It didn't take long to slash up my white into 54 2.5" strips.

I had a HUGE debate about matching my background with the solid strips that will become the stars, but I went out of my comfort zone and went a little wild and purchased the Aria Navy Cascade for my background.  I'm hoping another quilter chooses the other option so I can see how that plays out!


I made quick work in cutting my strips to prepare for subcutting.  Have I mentioned how much I love subcut instructions in patterns?  Fat Quarter Shop always seems to have them!

My confession.  I only purchased the Creative Grids 60 Degree Double Strip Ruler when I found out about the QAL.  I already had a Fons & Porter Hexagon Ruler, because we all know how much I love hexies!! They appear to have similar traits...it seemed silly to buy another one??  


Well.  I was wrong. WHOOPS!
My ruler is only 6.5" and the Creative Grid Hexagon Tool is 8.5".  My new ruler arrives very soon, so I have my 11 strips ready to go for when it arrives.  The hexagons seem pretty simple.  I noticed that the big key is to make sure that you are getting the seam allowances in your cut. I promise I'll add a picture as soon as the ruler arrives and I cut my hexagons. *ducks embarrassed*


Thankfully, I had the RIGHT ruler for the triangles and made quick work.   


The ruler is definitely tricky and I did a shout out for tips and advice from fellow quilters on Instagram.   A few mentioned to make sure I was putting even pressure on the ruler. I also think your orientation to the ruler is tricky.  Play around with different techniques!


If you missed the part where Kimberly flips her fabric to continue the line of triangles?  Never fear.  You just need to make sure you line up the edge of the last triangle on the ruler against the fabric edge of the new one.  The key to the triangles is that the point is "cut off" for future piecing.



With the majority of the cutting done, I will be ready to start piecing! Stay tuned!
edited to add:
Star Block Construction
Quilt Top Assembly

I've been included in a very amazing list of quilters!  I really, really suggest you go check out and see what the others are up to.  I can't wait to see the different versions of this quilt!


Melissa from Happy Quilting
Angie from Gnome Angel
Erin Cox from Why Not Sew
Andy from A Bright Corner
Pat from Pat Sloan
Peta from She Quilts a Lot
Heather from Quilt Story
Megan from Quilt Story
Amanda from Jedi Craft Girl
Sherri from A Quilting Life
Rebecca from Bryan House Quilts
Jemima from Tied with a Ribbon
Stephanie from Modern Sewciety
Brooke from Silly Mama Quilts
Carrie from Moda’s United Notions




 **I was provided with store credit to buy a portion of my supplies. Trust me, I still have some significant skin in the two quilts....All opinions are 100% my own.



4 comments:

  1. I have the Fons and Porter also!! Bummer, I have to buy two rulers plus one more jelly roll? I may just pass on this one, but I will be following your progress!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know, right? I tried to see if I could finangle it somehow, but it didn't work out.

    The only other option is to make smaller blocks the entire quilt. I might fiddle with that idea.....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, Heidi! I was wondering how much yardage you used instead of the solid jellyroll as I have one cream and some yardage as well which I could use if I have enough. Thanks, this is my first visit to your site but will definitely be back. I love your choice of fabrics!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If my math is correct, a jelly roll has 40 strips and you would only need 14 more strips for this pattern, which is a yard.

      I needed the full 54 strips which is about 3 3/4 yds. But I bought more than I needed for this project.

      Thanks for stopping by! Hope that helps??

      Delete

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