Two and a half inch strips are fun and versatile— sashing, borders, binding… but what about using them in a quilt to let their colors and prints shine? Join me as we make and show off Anne Boundy’s “Rainbow Paint Can” pattern and do just that!

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It’s appropriate that Moda calls their swirled up 2 1/2 inch strips “jelly rolls,” and it makes perfect sense to me why the term has become colloquial for a strip roll up— they are just so darn yummy looking! But, let’s be honest, there’s only so many “jelly roll race” quilts that one girl needs, you feel me? I love Anne’s pattern for it’s gorgeous color play, and unique piecing method.

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Pattern Review

Rainbow Paint Can was written by Anne Boundy of Said with Love for Make Modern Magazine and was included in Pretty Precuts as a 2 1/2 inch strip friendly pattern. My favorite thing about this pattern is the unique piecing method— yielding either a double sided quilt or two quilt tops— depending on your preference. The result is the appearance of colors dripping over the edge of the quilt, like paint over the edge of the can. The pattern worked up quickly, and is a great way to use a couple rolls of strips (or a pile of cut scraps).

Confession: I’m not known for my ability to follow directions, and it showed up this week. I used half the amount of background fabric, then trimmed the excess from the bottom of the quilt, resulting in my colors “floating” irregularly on the white and only making a one sided quilt. I arranged my colors to look a bit like mountains (light colors forming the sunlit side, grays and navys the shadowed backs), definitely inspired by my recent time in the Tetons.

Tip: Make sure you alternate piecing directions when assembling the strips. I did this by sewing two sets of two strips together, then sewing them into a set of four sewing the other way. Alternating stitching direction minimizes stretching and distortion

Design Ideas

Anne’s original design focuses on creating a rainbow “overflowing” from the top of the quilt. My quilt focuses on irregular strips floating in the center of the quilt. You could also have fun using different colors for the foreground and background (ex: warms for one, cools for the other) or simply letting your color placement be a bit “hot wild”

Quilting Plans

I love the dimensionality of Rainbow Paint Can— the sharp edges of the foreground, the ability to quilt up a storm in the background, knowing that a little goes a long way, etc. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

The most “obvious” quilting plan for Rainbow paint can is to keep it simple: stitch in the ditch around the foreground strips so they “pop,” then have fun in the negative space. Here I drew a simple meander, but any fill design would do, including graffiti quilting or a feather meander. If you’re feeling really bold, you could even quilt the negative space to truly look like a paint can!

My next thought was about how to “jazz up” the foreground and add some serious texture. What better way than to pick a couple border motifs or fills and go to town?? I would still stitch in the ditch around each multicolored strip to add stability and definition, and I’d keep the background simple to let your free motion quilting shine.

Finally, why not lean hard into that idea of paint, and quilt the edge of the rainbow to look even more like paint dripping over the edge? I drew stitching in the ditch to stabilize the rest of the upper half, but you could also use motifs like swirls or woodgrain or switchbacks to really get into the fun of creating a paint like texture and illusion. Either keep the background super simple, or go whole hog and do some quilting outside the lines to transform the bottom portion of the quilt into a paint can label.

Note bene: as I mentioned and showed above, I centered the stripes of my quilt to look more like mountains than dripping paint. I’m flirting with ways to create texture with my quilting to emphasize the idea of dawn-lit peaks while still keeping the quilt squishy and snuggly.

Conclusion

I enjoyed the unique piecing method and color placement technique of Rainbow Paint can much more than I expected, and I love all the different ways you could quilt this— either following the seamlines of the strips or ignoring them completely to create totally different effects. If you’re excited to try your hand at one of the quilting plans above, but you’re not a confident free motion quilter, be sure to check out my free guide, 3 Steps to Confident FMQ, to get you started:

Looking for the rest of the Pretty Precuts Stash Busting? Click here!