Moda Fabrics Jelly Rainbow Quilt - Downloadable PDF

Moda Fabrics Jelly Rainbow Quilt – Free Downloadable PDF Pattern Summary

About This Quilt Pattern

The Moda Fabrics Jelly Rainbow Quilt is a 54" x 54" square quilt designed by Moda Fabrics and available as a free downloadable PDF (pattern reference PS RS5027). This is an intermediate-level quilting project that makes clever and efficient use of Jelly Roll strips to create a striking, colorful design with diagonal piecing. The finished size makes it ideal as a throw quilt, lap quilt, or a bold decorative piece.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a single 54-inch by 54-inch quilt built from a series of strip-pieced blocks that are then cut diagonally to create dynamic, rainbow-inspired movement across the quilt top. The design relies on careful color placement and precise cutting to achieve its signature visual effect, making it a rewarding project for quilters who are comfortable with basic strip piecing and want to explore more dynamic cutting techniques.

Materials Used

• Jelly Roll strips – Pre-cut 2.5-inch wide fabric strips, as produced and sold by Moda Fabrics under the Jelly Roll™ trademark. These strips are the primary fabric requirement for this pattern.
• Standard quilting supplies including a rotary cutter, cutting mat, and quilting ruler are recommended, though the pattern notes that scissors can be used at the fold to conserve fabric.
• A sewing machine capable of an accurate 1/4-inch seam allowance is essential for this project.
• Pins for securing block pairs before stitching, and an iron for pressing seams open.

Techniques Used

• Jelly Roll strip preparation – Each Jelly Roll™ strip is cut in half at the fold. The pattern specifically advises cutting directly into the fold with scissors rather than trimming the fold away with a rotary cutter, which conserves fabric and reduces waste.
• Strip piecing – Strips are sewn together in a specific color sequence to form larger pieced blocks. The pattern emphasizes laying out all strips before sewing to ensure correct color placement throughout the design.
• Directional seaming – Each seam begins at the cut edge of the strip and is sewn toward the selvage edge. The pattern reassures quilters that selvage edges may not align perfectly, and that this is acceptable.
• Pressing seams open – All seams are pressed open rather than to one side, which helps reduce bulk and keeps the blocks flat and accurate.
• Block trimming – All completed blocks are trimmed down to a precise 20.5-inch square, ensuring uniformity before the diagonal cutting stage.
• Diagonal cutting – Pairs of blocks are placed right sides together with their strips perpendicular to one another, pinned, and stitched around all four edges. Each pair is then cut in half diagonally, and each resulting triangle is cut in half again, creating four smaller triangular units from each block pair. The pattern offers a helpful tip: fold the triangle in half and finger press to locate the center line before making the second cut.
• Color orientation matching – The pattern includes block diagrams and instructs quilters to match specific color orientations when pairing blocks, which is critical to achieving the rainbow gradient effect in the finished quilt.

Stitches and Seam Details

• Standard straight stitch used throughout on a sewing machine.
• 1/4-inch seam allowance is the standard used for all piecing unless otherwise noted in the pattern.
• Blocks are also stitched around all four edges when paired together before diagonal cutting, securing the layers for accurate and safe cutting.

Block Construction Overview

The pattern instructs quilters to piece