The Batik Braid Quilt Tutorial

Welcome to my Braided Quilt Tutorial. This tutorial is just a "how I did it" and "this is how it turned out" kind of tutorial. The one jelly roll makes a nice lap sized quilt, roughly 50" square.
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Edited to add- It has been pointed out to me that the math for this tutorial is off a bit, for a standard jelly roll. The jelly roll I used is from Walmart. (My current wallies still sells fabric.) I think there might be more strips in their roll or something because I used the math listed below and I even have pieces left over. BUT if you are using a traditional 40 strip jelly roll- you'll need to divide your 7 x 2.5" strips {there should be 240 of them} equally in to then start the tutorial. (8 piles of 30 strips OR maybe 6 piles of 40 strips.)
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The following directions are for the quilt I made, with the roll from Walmart. Here's how it shakes down:


I took the plunge and decided to finally cut into my jelly roll pack. I own 5 packs (well, 4 now) But I've been hesitant to cut into the beautiful strips... 'til today. LOVE these batik fabrics, by the way!!!

I made the quilt by cutting the jelly rolls into 7" lengths. (2.5" x 7") I then sorted the strips into 7 piles of 40 pieces each.
Then using one stack of 40 at a time, start sewing in the above fashion. I grabbed the strips quite randomly, so the quilt has that absolutely scrappy feel. Stitch them in the order illustrated above, alternating right and left sides.

Next you have to trim the long braid. You'll trim it twice; the sides and the ends. First trim off the triangles on the sides. My strips turned out to be about 8" wide. (The picture below represents all 40 strips, not just the 10 or so shown.)

Next you'll need to square up the top and bottom ends. (The picture below represents all 40 strips, not just the 10 or so shown.)The long strips will not have intersecting seams, so its ok to square off the ends at "the point where you run out of fabric". Does that make sense?

After the 7 wide braided strips are complete & square, ya just sew them together. When the quilt top is complete, you will need to go back with your rotary cutter and trim the top and bottom edges so they are flush and even with one another.

Go forth and cut into those jelly rolls!!!

Lets talk quilting. I'm thinking I should quilt this in a colored thread. Which color are you guys thinking? Blue, Pink or Brown?

If you make it, feel free to share it in the ReannaLily Designs Flickr pool.

~jen~

The Batik Braid Quilt Tutorial