Iraxy

In defense of jelly rolls, I have made several nice quilts from them. I particularly like the bargello quilts I have made as the colors match and go together. As a rule I don't buy them but some of them are really pretty. I also made a quilt for DH that had "manly dark colors" (his words,LOL) from a jelly roll that he uses all the time.

klgls

I love the precuts. I do look at the whole line of fabric before I purchase though. I have made quilts from layer cakes, charm packs and jelly rolls. I usually buy mine from MSQC when I can get them on sale. I do run a lint roller over the edges before I unroll a jelly roll - helps getting the lint off the edges. And as some said - I mix yardage and precuts to my pleasure. I'm working on a quilt for my son that has a sail boat block and I wanted them to be different - so I'm using a great layer cake for those - but yardage for the background. I don't think the precuts would be so available if people were having a lot of trouble with them. I see them more and more in my LQS too. Just my few thoughts about precuts.

mom-6

I tend to only buy any precuts when they are on clearance. And most often they are batiks. Partly because I know they are least likely to have additional shrinkage and mostly because I can usually count on them being good quality fabric regardless of the brand name. And besides, you can never have too many batiks!

Akweiland

I hate cutting fabric! That being said I find it nice to use yardage as well pre cuts so then I can get more done and less cutting time. I have only bought Moda precuts or from CT...great luck so far. Love the vacuum tip....layer cakes cause lots of shedding - always feel bad for June ...my main sewing machine.

meanmom

I do buy a few precuts, not too many. Sometimes it is nice to have the fabrics all matched for me. I really dislike that a lot of websites don't show you a picture of all of the fabrics in the pile like Missouri star does. I agree that the prettiest fabric is usually on the top. One reason I don't buy a lot of precuts is because I often buy fabric for a specific project and completely change the project by the time I make it.

Rose_P

I usually prefer to make my own combinations, and I have only bought one jelly roll. It was an impulse because of a good price at Tuesday Morning. It was a Kathy Davis design for Free Spirit - excellent quality. I was pleasantly surprised with the fabrics I didn't see in advance, but that was mostly chance. Although the line had been discontinued before I finally decided what to do with it, I was able to find several additional pieces from the same line on Etsy for borders and backing, so that was lucky, too. I don't always enjoy cutting strips, and can certainly see an advantage, but at full price you usually pay quite a bit extra because of the cutting and packaging process. One of the big advantages is that many stores will not cut less than a quarter yard of fabric, but with a JR you can buy multiple narrow strips without having to pay for more fabric of each design than you want. I wish Tuesday Morning would frequently offer precuts, but usually I don't find any there.

There are 14.4 2 1/5" strips in a yard, so you could do the math when you see a JR. Divide the number of strips by 14.4 and that will tell you how many yards of fabric you're getting. A 40 strip roll is about 2.8 yds of fabric. You could divide the price by 2.8 and find how much it is per yard. It is worthwhile to carry a calculator or a smart phone with a calculator app, unless you're a math wiz or just don't care how much you spend.

Any time you're thinking of buying a jelly roll from someone who doesn't provide a picture of all the fabrics, use Google image search to see what the line consists of. Double check to make sure it's not just showing you an irrelevant picture, but usually someone will have what you're looking for somewhere on the Internet. It's saved me from buying some I might not have liked, and also helped me to see what is available to go with the fabrics I do like.

kiffie2413

Excellent point!
Kif

ccthomas

Consistency is an issue I have found with jelly rolls. Good for fast quilting.

Wanabee Quiltin

I love pre-cuts. Yes, I always look at the other fabrics because you are right, they do slip some uglies in the roll. As someone already commented, go to Missouri Star and see if the jelly roll is there because then you can look at all of the line. I have bought jelly rolls from vendors and they are sneaky sometimes. I always ask first if there are doubles in the roll and then I kind of flip through it to see if I like it. Jelly rolls are very easy to use and the quilt can be made much faster without all that cutting and ironing. My humble opinion.

twinkie

I have bought jelly rolls that the width of the strips vary as much as 1/4". I don't buy them anymore.