Sault quilters needled into stitching for national 'sew a jelly roll' day

Here's something only quilters would know — but want you to know, too — this coming Sept. 21 is National Sew A Jelly Roll Day! 

This special day has been happening for the past five years on the 3^rd Saturday in September, according to the Sault's quilting organization, Stitches From the Heart Quilt Guild.

"It came about as a result of Project Jelly Roll as Moda Fabrics wanted quilters to use the beautiful assortment of carefully curated pre-cut fabrics rather than keep them bundled up and stored on shelves," the guild said in a release.

The "jelly rolls" are made of 2 ½” x width of fabric strips and usually have 40 strips or a total of 2.75 yards of fabric. They often feature all of the fabrics in a fabric collection "and are so beautiful that people are reluctant to cut into them," the local guild said. 

So these beautiful rolls of fabric end up on shelves decorating quilt rooms rather than being used to make quilts or in other projects. 

"Nowadays many fabric companies, quilt designers and quilt shops celebrate this day and try to inspire quilters with a wonderful selection of discounted jelly rolls, sew-a-longs and free patterns," Stitches From the Heart said.

The most famous pattern is the simple “Jelly Roll Race” that can be sewed together in a couple of hours. 

There are also much more complex quilt patterns that combine yardage with jelly rolls.

(For some project ideas and inspiration, check out this link at https://modafabrics.com/tags/project-jelly-roll and be sure to scroll through the previous year’s offerings to get even more ideas.) 

The Stitches from the Heart Quilt Guild in Sault Ste. Marie is encouraging members to take a jelly roll off their shelves and use it for the first "guild challenge" of this membership year. 

Members will be bringing something that they created with a jelly roll to the Sept. 16 meeting to have it judged by members. 

Projects can be a full-size quilt but don’t have to be as the guild is also accepting smaller projects like wall-hangings, table runners, bags and even placemats as long as it was created with a Jelly Roll. 

Guild members will vote on their favourite item and present the winner with a $25 gift certificate from Life’s a Stitch. 

Members of the public who would like to check out items created by guild members and learn more about quilting are welcome to join them this Monday, Sept. 16 at the Bay Street Active Living Centre at 619 Bay St. 

Doors open at 6 p.m. and the meeting begins at 7 p.m.

For more information about the National Sew A Jelly Roll Day, the Stitches from the Heart Quilt Guild or quilting in general, contact Donna St Jules, community and media relations at 705-971-5479 or by email at [email protected]. 

Stitches From the Heart Quilt Guild has been providing opportunities for quilters to share, learn and gather with other quilters for more than 30 years and has over 130 members. 

They meet the fourth Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Senior’s Centre on Bay and always welcome new members.

Check them out at www.saultquilts.com or on Facebook at Stitches from the Heart Quilt Guild (SSM, ON).