Recently I stumbled across a great alternative - the Moda Scrap Bag! These little gems contain the leftovers from making Moda Layer Cakes and are also generally color coordinated, but you never know what you're going to get. You may get half a bag full of the same print, or you may get each strip unique. These bags weigh 1/2 pound, so are half as much as a jelly roll. The strips are usually 32" long, not 42" like the jelly roll. These are important considerations when purchasing for a pattern intended for a jelly roll. Scrap bags are hard to find and generally cost $10 to $12 each. Some websites let you choose from the patterns they have available, while others do not. I haven't been able to find these in an actual brick & mortar store.
I've been hunting these elusive creatures down for the past 2 months or so and stumbled across a large amount of them on ebay recently. The seller generously provided combined shipping and so I snatched up 4 scrap bags for $34. I bought 2 each of Verna and Fandango, and eagerly awaited their arrival!
When they came, it turns out one of the Fandango bags had 1 strip of Fandango on the outside, and the rest were Awesome. I was disappointed not to have as much Fandango, but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes!
Each of my bags had about 30 strips in it, without any duplicates. Most did have a selvedge edge. They ranged from around 2.5" to 3.75" in width, and most were 30" to 32" long. There were a couple shorties in there that were only 6" long. I've already started trimming the Verna down to 2.5" and have them sorted into cools vs. warm colors to make a Friendship Braid Quilt from Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam & Nicki Lintott. I'm so excited and can't wait to show you how it turns out!
