Kimberly Einmo has been an EQ user since EQ3 and we were thrilled to be able to work with her recently to create two EQ7 products from her popular books Jelly Quilts & More and Jelly Roll Quilt Magic (both published by AQS). The downloadable products contain EQ7 project files for each of Kimberly’s original quilts, along with 3-4 variations of each quilt.
Many of Kimberly’s designs use half-square triangles that finish at 2”. Standard “quilter’s math” tells us that you should add 7/8” to the finished size of a half-square triangle to find your cut size. EQ7’s rotary cutting charts follow standard quilter’s math, so you’ll see that it tells you to cut all those half-square triangles at 2-7/8”:
Jelly roll strips are only 2-1/2”, so how do we use jelly rolls for these HST units? Kimberly has a ruler for cutting HSTs from jelly rolls called the EZ Flying Geese Ruler (you can find instructions on how to use the ruler here).
But you can still cut these units from jelly roll strips without the ruler. In EQ7, you can print the template patterns for these blocks. Because EQ7 clips the corners of templates (so it’s easier to line up patches and you don’t end up with those long “dog ears” after piecing), you’ll see that the templates for those HSTs will fit on a jelly roll strip:
You’ll also find that when the rotary cutting chart calls for quarter-square units cut from a 5-1/4″ square, like this:
You can cut these units from a jelly roll strip too, using the templates:
So if you’d like to make Kimberly’s quilts at the size she originally designed them, and would like to cut your patches from Jelly Roll strips, you can use the templates from EQ7 to ensure accurate patch sizes.
04-12-2016
11:37 am
That was a very useful tip. thanks for telling me this. I never think of printing these templates out. Now I will!!!!!
05-15-2017
6:42 pm
That’s funny that you don’t use the EQ Templates because that is practically the first thing I use EQ for. I am always finding blocks that are needed in “odd” sizes so I just print templates for all sorts of sizes, like maybe I need a 3.5″ block so I draw the block and print to any size I need.
Susan
04-12-2016
11:50 am
Great hint.my added suggestion is to check your printer for accuracy. Draft a square in EQ that is 6″ and print it. Using you favorite ruler measure this block to make sure it is the correct size . My printer does not print accurately so this throws off the size of templates.
04-13-2016
11:15 am
Very good point! Checking the accuracy of your printer before you start cutting fabric can avoid a lot of headache!
04-13-2016
9:44 am
Wow. Thanks for the great info. I will be using this with my jelly rolls!
04-17-2016
10:50 am
Thank you . I love Jelly rolls and using precuts makes life so much easier.
05-11-2017
1:45 am
Thank you for this information. These tutorial tips on how to use standard size fabric strips is MOST HELPFUL.