Chips, Tiles, Strips & Rolls: Northcott’s Precut Names Decoded

You found the perfect Stonehenge colorway, you’ve got a jelly roll pattern ready, and the listing says… “Strips.” Is that the same thing?

It is. Northcott gives its precuts their own special names: Chips, Tiles, Strips, Micro Strips, and Rolls. Once you know the translation, any charm pack, layer cake, or jelly roll pattern works with Northcott fabric. Here’s the cheat sheet, plus a few free Missouri Star tutorials to try with each size.

Key Takeaways

• ➤Same sizes, different names. Northcott Chips, Tiles and Strips match the charm packs, layer cakes and jelly rolls your patterns ask for.
• ➤Read the size, not the name. If a pattern calls for 5″ squares, any 5″ pack works, whoever made it.
• ➤“Rolls” are not jelly rolls. A Northcott Roll is a fat quarter bundle. The 2½″ strip pack is called Strips.
• ➤Solid packs make backgrounds easy. A Colorworks White Tiles pack is exactly the size of a print layer cake, so your background needs no cutting.
• ➤Check the count. Standard packs hold 42 squares or 40 strips. Fat quarter bundle counts vary, so check each listing.

Why Do Precuts Have So Many Names?

“Jelly Roll,” “Layer Cake,” “Charm Pack” and “Honey Bun” are trademarked names from Moda Fabrics. They caught on so well that quilters use them to refer to their favorite precut types. However, other fabric companies sell the same sizes under their own names. Robert Kaufman calls its Kona strips Roll Ups and its 10″ squares Ten Squares. Northcott went with Chips, Tiles, Strips, and Rolls.

Whatever the label, the size is what matters. Here’s the full translation:

Chips: Northcott’s 5″ Charm Packs

Chips are the easiest way to try a whole collection. With 42 5″ squares in a pack, you get a little of everything, and they’re just right for small quilts, table runners, and scrappy blocks. They pair nicely with a solid, too. A pack of Stonehenge Gradations Chips plus a pack of Colorworks White Chips gives you prints and background at exactly the same size.

“I used the Stonehenge Gradations for the patchwork. I thought they were so pretty I decided I would use all of them.”

— Mora on Stonehenge Gradations II Gemstone Chips, verified buyer

Try it with Chips

Disappearing 4 Patch Quilt

Sew four squares together, make two cuts, and rearrange them into a block that looks much trickier than it is. It calls for two packs of 5″ print or solid squares and two packs of 5″ solid squares. See the tutorial

Try it with Chips

Breezy Blocks Table Runner

Misty and guest HollyAnne Knight make pinwheel blades that spin around on-point squares, in Colorworks Premium Solids with a piano key border. See the tutorial

Try it with Chips

Color Wheel Quilt

Misty makes it two ways: soft pastels for a baby quilt, and bright solids, including Colorworks Premium Solids, for a quilt that looks like a new box of crayons. See the tutorial

Tiles: Northcott’s 10″ Layer Cakes

Tiles are the workhorse. Each pack holds 42 10″ squares, which is enough for a throw-size quilt top. A 10″ square is also big enough to cut down into half-square triangles, four patches, or smaller squares. Colorworks solid Tiles are especially handy as a background, because they match a print layer cake piece for piece.

“This was my first time using Layer Cakes, I usually buy yardage. The Layer Cakes were the perfect size and made the Dashing Star Quilt come together quickly.”

— Jeannene S. on Stonehenge Gradations II Graphite Tiles, verified buyer

Try it with Tiles

Breezeway Quilt

Misty pairs a print layer cake with a layer cake of Northcott’s Colorworks Premium Solids to make big pinwheels, with small pinwheels at the intersections. You’ll need one pack of 10″ squares for the main fabric and one for the background. See the tutorial

Try it with Tiles

Sunshine Shoofly Quilt

Jenny made this one with Stonehenge Gradations Brights Indigo Tiles. Four patches turn into hourglass blocks, and shoofly blocks finish the design. See the tutorial

Try it with Tiles

Midnight Bloom Quilt

Natalie sets bright sawtooth stars on a deep navy background, all in Northcott’s Colorworks Premium Solids. See the tutorial

Try it with Tiles

Backsplash Quilt

Cherry Hill uses Colorworks Premium Solids for long hexagons and lots of negative space. It’s a clean, modern quilt from 10″ squares. See the tutorial

Strips: Northcott’s 2½″ Jelly Rolls

Strips are 40 2½″ × 44″ strips, the size every jelly roll pattern is written for. They’re made for strip sets, and a 2½″ strip is also exactly the width most quilters cut for binding. Keep a pack of Colorworks Black or White Strips on hand, and your sashing and binding are always ready to go.

“I made this quilt for a Christmas gift. The colors are beautiful and the fabric was a joy to work with. I loved it so much I bought another Stonehenge Gradiations Gemstone Strips.”

— Jill M. on Stonehenge Gradations II Gemstone Strips, verified buyer

Try it with Strips

Roadblock Quilt

Jenny made this one with X’s and O’s Rainforest Strips by Deborah Edwards for Northcott. It’s easy strip sets plus nine patch, square-in-a-square and wonky star blocks. It’s a great home for orphan blocks, too. See the tutorial

Try it with Strips

Jelly Twist Quilt

Misty uses one pack of Stonehenge Gradations II strips for a lattice-effect quilt designed by Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew. See the tutorial

Try it with Strips

Ticker Tape Quilt

Jenny uses 2½″ strips of Banyan Batiks for Northcott. Skinny pieced strip sets come together fast, inspired by an old quilt top she found in an antique shop. See the tutorial

Try it with Strips

Symposium Quilt

Anna Maria Parry designed this one with her Jumpstart fabric for Northcott. Simple squares and stars, plus a matching pillow sham. See the tutorial

Micro Strips: Northcott’s 1½″ Honey Buns

Micro Strips are the skinny sibling: 40 1½″ strips. They’re made for narrow sashing, skinny inner borders and log cabin blocks with a lot of little logs. Our Colorworks Micro Strips come in the four neutrals quilters use most: White, Snow, Eggshell and Black.

Get to know 1½″ strips

Honey Buns

A quick video on what 1½″ strip packs are and how quilters use them. Watch the video

Try it with Micro Strips

Small Log Cabin Quilt

Jenny gets 21 log cabin blocks from a single pack of 1½″ strips, then shows other layouts like stair steps and fields and furrows. See the tutorial

Try it with Micro Strips

Quilt Sashing Ideas

Skinny strips make great sashing. Jenny walks through several ways to frame your blocks. See the tutorial

Try it with Micro Strips

Lovely Mini Strip Circle Quilt

Jenny sews 1½″ strips together, then uses a circle ruler to cut circles from the strip set. See the tutorial

Rolls: Northcott’s Fat Quarter Bundles

Here’s the one that trips people up. A Northcott Roll is not a jelly roll. It’s a fat quarter bundle, and each piece is about 18″ × 22″. Our Colorworks Rolls hold 20 fat quarters. Stonehenge Gradations Rolls vary by colorway, so check the count on the listing. Fat quarters give you the most freedom of any precut, because you cut the shapes yourself.

“This is such a beautiful combination of colors and the fabric quality is great.”

— Janel d. on Stonehenge Gradations II Gemstone Rolls, verified buyer

Ideas for Rolls

What Can You Make With a Fat Quarter?

Our roundup of fat quarter projects, each with a free video tutorial. See the projects

Try it with Rolls

Broken Bars Quilt

Jenny turns a stack of fat quarters into bold bars of color. The pattern comes in sizes from lap to king. See the tutorial

Try it with Rolls

Puzzle Box Quilt

The interlocking links look tricky, but Misty shows that the whole quilt is simple squares cut from fat quarters. See the tutorial

Try it with Rolls

Kings Cross Quilt

Colorful diamonds nest inside diamonds of solid background. Misty makes hers from a fat quarter collection. See the tutorial

Shop Northcott Precuts by Size

Every Chips, Tiles, Strips, Micro Strips, and Rolls pack we carry, from Stonehenge and Colorworks and more, lives in one place: our Northcott precuts collection.

Related Articles

• ➤ Northcott Fabrics: A Quilter’s Ultimate Guide
• ➤ 15 Free Charm Pack Quilts & Patterns for Beginners
• ➤ 15+ Free Jelly Roll Quilt Patterns

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Northcott Chips?

Chips are Northcott’s 5″ squares, the same size as a charm pack. A standard pack holds 42.

What are Northcott Tiles?

Tiles are Northcott’s 10″ squares, the same size as a layer cake. A standard pack holds 42.

Are Northcott Strips the same as a jelly roll?

Yes, same size. Strips are 40 2½″ × 44″ strips, so any jelly roll pattern will work.

Is a Northcott Roll a jelly roll?

No. A Northcott Roll is a fat quarter bundle. The 2½″ strip pack is called Strips.

What are Micro Strips?

Micro Strips are Northcott’s 1½″ strips, the same size as a honey bun. A pack holds 40.

Can I use Northcott precuts with Moda or Kona patterns?

Yes. Patterns are written for a size, not a brand. Match the size and check the piece count.