I am so pleased to be able to share a new quilt and a new pattern with you today! The Jolly Bar Jump quilt is a snazzy new free, shortcut quilt pattern out from Fat Quarter Shop. I’ll tell you about my whole process, but let’s cut to the chase and take a look first. This is a fun one!

The pattern calls for 2 jolly bars, 2 charm packs, and fabric for the border. If you haven’t seen them, jolly bars are pretty cool – they are 5″ x 10″ precuts. When I was picking fabric though, the recipient couldn’t keep his eyes off of this batik line. So we used a layer cake instead and just cut each piece in half. As for the fabric, y’all…

This was so far out of my comfort zone that I think we were in a different comfort district. Now, I do think this is awfully pretty, I love the subtle variation and depth of the batik fabrics. These cool blues and neutral greys and browns are just a world away from my usual pastels and rainbow-brite style. Anyway, after Astra got her quilt for Christmas, someone decided they really needed another quilt. Joshua picked out Mali Blue Batiks and settled on Moda Bella Solids in Silver for the background.

This quilt is a snap to prep – if you use jolly bars there’s no cutting until you get to the border! Even so, it was a breeze to cut my layer cake squares in half and get sewing. In my eagerness, I decided to dig out the 1/4″ foot for my machine. I hadn’t tried it yet so I popped it on, whipped through the first step and then on to the second step. Back to the genius of short cut quilts – there are only 2 blocks here and they are so quick and easy! I love it. So I laid out my blocks and set to arranging them.

I spent quite a bit of time on this step. With such a simple, bold layout I really wanted an even distribution. I used the black & white filter on my phone to help. Once I was happy, I picked the whole thing up and went to my machine. Turns out the diamond blocks were a good near 1/4″ smaller than the Jolly Bar Jump blocks (rectangles). I have since learned that my 1/4″ foot needs the needle moved all the way to the right in order to be accurate. So yeah… I wound up trimming the jump blocks down just a smidge, so my quilt is a little shorter than it should be. You know what they say, finished is better than perfect! In the end it all worked out and I learned that you really should check your seam allowance… Anyway, back to this goregous quilt.

I sent off to Nicole at Kwiltit to be quilted and then I machine bound it, with lots of help from my supervisor. He will endlessly snuggle into a quilt while I bind it, even waiting while I flip it or move it around. Joshua loves to see the quilting pattern, so he opted for a high contrast black thread in a big bold orange peel style pattern. That’s not usually my style, but the effect is super cool.

All in all, I really enjoyed making this quilt. It is definitely a shortcut – it would make a great one-day quilt top. I’ve made several of Fat Quarter Shop’s shortcut quilts before. They really helped me get more comfortable with quilt making when I was first getting back into it. I made three right in a row a few years ago (1, 2, 3) and then made another for mom for Christmas. I think they make great skill-builders but are also a great quick project for any quilter.

So there you have it, my finished Jolly Bar Jump! Many thanks to Fat Quarter Shop for inviting me to quilt along on this one!

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Happy making!