Hometown Christmas Jelly Roll Charm Chase Quilt

I'm excited to be finally able to share my Jelly Roll Charm Chase Quilt which is a pattern I did for Moda Bake Shop.  I've been quietly working on it since the beginning of April.  The recipe is now available (you can read about it here) and can also be found on my homepage under "Tutorial".

The Jelly Roll Charm Chase pattern is a variation of a Jelly Roll Race which I am sure many quilters have made one.  My version includes using a Charm Pack of the same fabric line as the Jelly Roll which gives the quilt a more modern, improv look.  I came up with this idea when I happened to have in my stash a jelly roll, charm pack and yardage of Amy Ellis' Modern Neutral and had already made a Jelly Roll Race Quilt.  I loved how it turned out--the strips and squares sewn together had a woven modern Southwestern blanket effect.  

I posted this quilt last year on Pat Sloan's Facebook Group and received favorable comments and the suggestion since I purchased the fabrics from Missouri Star Quilt Co. they might like to feature the pattern.  I sent a photo of the quilt to them and the response received was a thanks for sending and they liked the fabrics I used.  I thought nothing more about this pattern until I happened to read Angie from Gnome Angel's post in mid-March that Moda has put a call for Chefs to submit recipes for Moda Bake Shop.  I went on Moda's website and completed the submission form, included a brief description and photo of the quilt, said a quick prayer and emailed it to them.  Shortly after, I received a computer-generated response that my submission was received and they would be in touch if my project was approved.  By the end of March when I had just returned from out of town welcoming the birth of my first granddaughter, I received an e-mail from Moda that my submission had been approved.  This was a heart-attack moment which was quickly followed with the thought that I've already had enough on my plate having just started my participation in the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop and being involved with learning new computer skills, so the stress and angst was on.

While waiting for my fabric to arrive, I decided to make another Jelly Roll Charm Chase Quilt since I had a jelly roll and charm pack of another fabric line from Amy Ellis, Chic Neutral and to prepare for drafting the pattern. This quilt, as well as the first quilt, was machine quilted by me with horizontal straight line quilting.

It was really nice working with Moda (United Notions). I was able to choose from three future fabric lines and I received all of the fabrics, including backing and binding, to make this quilt. Here's a photo of my box of free fabric with a double side order of pressure. I wasn't sure if I would receive the Hometown Christmas Edition fabrics and was happy when I did since I wanted to make it with fabrics that had a more traditional look and I think the pattern looks wonderful with these fabrics. And to think I would have a finished quilt for Christmas by the end of May which is a personal best for me.

The making of this quilt was smooth sailing until I was ready to machine quilt it, that was when my Juki decided it would be a perfect time to visit the repairman for a week to ten days. This delay would have cut too close to my goal of finishing the quilt by the end of May since I still needed to take photos of the finished quilt for the June deadline.

Fortunately, my super-wonderful Long Arm Quilter, Jan Bryant, was available to perform her magic by quilting it with a lovely heart pattern within 24 hours. And once the binding was sewn, my next concern was finding a place to take glamour shots of the quilt which I didn't want to take around my house since I wanted a more wintery feel to reflect the Hometown Christmas Edition fabric line. Thankfully, my long-time friend and quilt peep, Mary, had the perfect ambience on her front porch.

I've become a little bit more computer savvy since I started blogging, reading other blogs and participating in the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop so I wasn't too overwhelmed having to prepare the pattern on Moda's website. I'm just happy I finally have a pattern to share, the stress is over and peaceful quilting is back. Also, it's nice to have a connection with Moda now because way back when my boys were young, my friends whom some of them were quilters, thought it was funny that the boys called my mother 'Yoda" and asked what I wanted my grandchildren to call me and I quickly responded 'Moda'.

I hope you check out my Jelly Roll Charm Chase pattern and find how easy and fun it is to make and perfect if you need to make a quilt for family or friend.  I'm already planning the next one with Janet Clare's Aubade, A Song to the Dawn, fabric line with a different twist with the strips and charm squares. Moda has announced that September 16th will be National Sew A Jelly Roll Day, (you can read about it here) when quilters will be encouraged to finally break out the jelly rolls they've been saving and making something for them, for their family or friends or for charity. Perhaps, you may want to try this pattern then. Please let me know if you have any questions and I would love to see photos of the Jelly Roll Charm Chase quilt(s) you make.

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