Over the last two days, we had a great time sewing with SCHMETZ #1709 Universal Needles Carded – 80/12 – 5 count and Gütermann Cotton 50wt Thread 250m – Ivory. That combo made everything stitch smoothly and look great—a go-to pairing for any quilt or sewing project.
Yesterday, we added the checkered border to the quilt; today, we finish the quilt. To do so, we need the following tools.
- BOHIN Mechanical Chalk Pencil 0.9mm + 6 White Leads
- Odif 505 Temporary Quilt Basting Adhesive Spray – 312g
- FAIRFIELD Quilter’s 80/20TM Quilt Batting – 229 x 274cm (90″ x 108″)
Gütermann Cotton 50wt Thread in ivory and SCHMETZ Universal Needles 80/12
Once my quilt backing is ready, I tape it to the floor to keep it smooth and tight. Then I lay the FAIRFIELD Quilter’s 80/20TM Quilt Batting 90″ x 108″ on top. To baste, I use Odif 505 Temporary Quilt Basting Adhesive Spray. I spray the batting, not the fabric, then gently lay it in place.
Once the batting is basted in place, I layer the quilt top over it, again spraying Odif 505 directly onto the batting before smoothing the top down.
Odif 505
Once the quilt is basted, it’s time to start quilting! I like to keep things simple, so for this quilt, I decided to quilt parallel lines along the seams in the center section of the quilt.
Quilting parallel lines.
For the checkered border, I quilted diagonal lines to complement the design and add a bit of movement.
Quilting diagonal lines.
In the photo above, you’ll see a line I marked to follow while quilting. If, like me, you’re not comfortable quilting a straight line—whether by machine or by hand, I always find it helpful to mark a guideline first.
My all-time favorite marking tool is the BOHIN Mechanical Chalk Pencil 0.9mm + 6 White Leads. The white leads are the ones I reach for most often. My second go-to is the BOHIN Pencil Refill 0.9mm Grey Blister, an excellent color for fabrics where white doesn’t show up well. Only a gentle force is needed to mark the fabric.
For the rare times when neither color works, I’ll switch to one of the following colors…
- BOHIN Pencil Refill 0.9mm Pink Blister
- BOHIN Pencil Refill 0.9mm Green Blister
- BOHIN Pencil Refill 0.9mm Yellow Blister
- BOHIN Pencil Refill 0.9mm White Blister
Note: I remember when I first started quilting, some marking pencils and chalks were difficult to remove from fabric. I’ve never had that issue with the BOHIN pencil leads. That said, if there’s concern, I recommend testing on a fabric scrap first, then try rubbing or washing it off to be sure it removes cleanly.
BOHIN mechanical chalk pencil with different colored leads.
With the quilting done and the binding sewn on, the Jelly Roll Quilt with a Twist is officially finished!
The completed Jelly Roll Quilt with a Twist
All the tools I used this week were important, but the ones I found most helpful in making this quilt are:
- SCHMETZ #1709 Universal Needles Carded – 80/12 – 5 count
- Gütermann Cotton 50wt Thread 250m – Ivory
- BOHIN Mechanical Chalk Pencil 0.9mm + 6 White Leads
- BOHIN Pencil Refill 0.9mm Pink Blister
- BOHIN Pencil Refill 0.9mm Grey Blister
- BOHIN Pencil Refill 0.9mm Green Blister
- BOHIN Pencil Refill 0.9mm Yellow Blister
- BOHIN Pencil Refill 0.9mm White Blister
- Odif 505 Temporary Quilt Basting Adhesive Fabric Spray – 312g
Essential sewing and quilting tools
Usually, this would be the end of the post—but I’d love to share a few photos of other jelly roll quilts I’ve made in the past. Feel free to use them as inspiration for your quilting projects!
The first quilt I’d like to share also used just five colors of strips. The main difference from the one we completed this week is that the strips in this quilt were kept at their full length, creating a different overall look.
Checkered border quilt
Here are two quilts where I used black strips to enhance the overall look. The quilt on the right features a simple black inner border, while the quilt on the left includes both an inner and outer black border. The one on the left was part of the “What’s in your Hemline Gold Multi-Use Craft Bag” post I wrote last year.
Black bordered jelly roll quilts
The last jelly roll quilt I’m sharing was made using bits and pieces of leftover strips—about the equivalent of half a jelly roll. It came together beautifully and makes a great table runner—a perfect way to use up strip scraps!
Jelly roll quilted table runner
Today’s post marks the end of this week’s project. I hope you enjoyed following along and found it inspiring, too!
This is part 5 of 5 in this series
Go back to part 4: Add stunning checkered borders to the Jelly Roll Quilt with a Twist