"Yikes, Those Stripes" is a Favorite Pattern of Mine

It's not really the way I typically work, but I've discovered a few patterns (of mine) that I tend to revisit. Again. And again!

This quilt is so Jelly Roll friendly. You know - those Jelly Rolls you've been hoarding, hoping a quick pattern comes along that uses every square inch of them. This is one idea I think you'll like.

It all started with this first quilt published in Quilt Magazine early 2000. I bought a bundle of plaids from a quilting catalog and decided to test drive a concept for making this block. I cut 2-1/2" strips and paired them with a solid cream.

Simple Hourglass Quilt

Then I made it a second time in 2005. It was a wildly popular workshop for a few years. I called it Yikes, Those Stripes! This one uses 30 blocks. It also was published in Quilt Magazine. This time I used the stripes cut into strips and paired these with Kaffe Fassett shot cottons (the solids).

Yikes, Those Stripes!

 And the glorious quilting done by Leslee Evans of Atlanta.

Beautiful quilting by Leslee Evans of Atlanta, GA

 And more quilting:

More beautiful quilting

I had a few extra blocks and made a table runner (it has since been quilted and used often):

Three blocks for a colorful table runner

Then I played around with some color arrangement and an extra strip:

Yikes with an extra strip

These are Hourglass Blocks made with strips which are cut with a 90 degree triangle ruler. I used one by Judy Martin.

Then I was asked by Lakehouse Fabrics to make the same pattern for Quilt Market. Here is a version I made using a bundle of two dozen fat quarters. This reminded me of a circus, so I called it "Big Top Stripes." This is also one of 13 patterns bundled on my "Best of 2012 Calendar of Quilts" at my Etsy site.

Big Top Stripes with 25 blocks

And my most recent finish (notice I didn't say I STARTED this recently). This was made with some leftovers from my Kaffe Fassett stash. Notice I didn't have enough of that fans fabric to make more than 8 blocks. I made 4 more using a stripe. Works well, I think!

12 Blocks using complementary fabrics

So, you see, when there is such a quick and fun way to get some awesome blocks pieced, the pattern keeps calling my name. While you may not have the sort of ruler I used, a simple cutting template is included in the Yikes, Those Stripes! pattern. It's a fantastic way to use all those 2-1/2" jelly roll strips you've been hoarding. Combine them with a neutral (like the quilt above) or go wild and crazy as in my Big Top Stripes.