help a quilting newbie?

hi all!

i went out this weekend and treated myself to something i had not seen before... a Jelly Roll and a 5" Charms Pack.

i have NO IDEA what to do with them, but I know I want a simple quilt...

Can anyone suggest a pattern or any ideas?  I didn't get any additional fabrics for sashings or backings, but I can if need be.  It was a special treat for me, one of the few times i got to get away from my babies.

thanks so much!!!

I dont have a pattern for you but this book seems popular at my own library and I think it would give you a lot of great ideas!

http://www.amazon.com/Jelly-Roll-Quilts-Pam-Lintett/dp/0715328638/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218220952&sr=8-1

Hopefully this helps a little, have fun I havent worked with Jelly Rolls yet but it is one of the things on my list to do!

CBear, I just wanted to add that I actually looked through the book in real life that artsymomma posted, and it looked like a very good book. It had lots of patterns and ideas in it for Jelly Rolls.

If you have a local bookstore that carries it, I would go thumb through it. Then you could probably get the book cheaper on Amazon.

I have seen charm packs used to make quilts using english paper piecing.  I think the person demonstrating was using 1" octagon (grandmothers flower garden) pieces and would get 4 pieces out of each charm pack piece of fabric. 

I hope this helps 

I've been using a jelly roll to great a pieced paper quilt. It's a lot of work though and it might be more rewarding to start with an easier machine sewable pattern. If you like some links for hexagon quilts, you can see my blog on it: http://badskirt.blogspot.com/2008/08/on-six-sided-shapes.html

Definitely can't wait to hear about what you decide to try!

Duh!  They were hexagons, not octagons.  I am using 1" octagons for my EPP project and I doubt 4 per charm pack piece would fit.

From jelly rolls, you can get 14 hexagons that are 2 1/2" high, just under 3" wide. This fabric is approximately 1 1/2" on the shortest side and fits on well on a 1" or 1 1/8" hexagon depending on how much edge you want to turn. That means a typical 40 strip jelly roll gives you 288 hexagons. To find out how many hexagons you need for a pattern, you can visit Lizard of Oz

   - Grandmother's Garden Quilts: http://www.lizardofoz.com.au/Layouts/h.htm
   - Other Layouts: http://www.lizardofoz.com.au/Layouts/layouts.htm

I still recommend a simpler quilt to start like a crazy crooked log cabin or stacked coins!

Definitely get that book on jelly roll quilts...it's awesome.....if you're into making bags....there are also good patterns for the jelly rolls that you bought that won't use it all up.  the charms....you can pretty much just sew them together, i don't know how many packs you got....you probably listed it, but you can get different types of fabric and make it completely charm....doll quilt or get more and make a larger quilt.