Two Step Quilt Tutorial: Jenny Doan's Easy Jelly Roll Quilt Pattern
If you've ever wanted a quilt that's bold, modern, and comes together in a flash, the Two Step quilt is calling your name. Jenny Doan designed this beauty to make the most of two quilter favorites — jelly roll strips and charm squares — combining them into an eye-catching checkerboard-meets-brick pattern that's as fun to sew as it is to look at.
With over 1.3 million views, this tutorial is a fan favorite for good reason: it's fast, it's satisfying, and the results are absolutely stunning. One jelly roll, some background fabric, and an afternoon of sewing — that's all it takes to make a quilt you'll be proud to show off.
What Is a Two Step Quilt?
The Two Step quilt gets its name from the simple two-step process at its heart: pair up jelly roll strips, sew them together, then cut them into units that alternate with background charm squares. The result is a rhythmic, alternating pattern of colorful strip-pairs and solid squares that looks like a modern take on a traditional brick or checkerboard layout.
What makes this quilt so clever is that every strip gets a partner. You pair them up, sew them together, and cut 5-inch segments — which then match perfectly with 5-inch background squares. It's a foolproof system that produces a professional-looking quilt with minimal effort.
What You'll Need
🧵 1 jelly roll (2½" strip roll) — approximately 40 strips. Use your favorite collection for maximum color impact! Shop jelly rolls.
🧵 1¾ yards background fabric — for the 5" squares and inner border. Shop fabric.
🧵 1¾ yards outer border fabric — for a 6" border frame
✂️ Rotary cutter, ruler & cutting mat — for cutting strips and squares. Shop rotary cutters.
🪡 Sewing machine with a ¼" presser foot
🔥 Iron and ironing board — for pressing seams
📌 Pins or clips — for keeping units aligned. Shop pins & clips.
Alternative: Instead of cutting background squares from yardage, you can use 56 charm squares (5" squares) in a coordinating solid. Either way works perfectly!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Cut Your Background Squares
From your background fabric, cut 5-inch strips across the width of the fabric. Then sub-cut those strips into 5-inch squares. You'll need approximately 56 background squares total.
To cut efficiently: fold your fabric in half selvedge to selvedge, cut 5-inch strips, then stack them and cut into 5-inch squares. Jenny's method is to fold, line up your ruler, trim the selvedge, and then cut squares one at a time for precision.
Step 2: Pair and Sew Your Jelly Roll Strips
Unroll your jelly roll and start pairing strips together in sets of two. Every single strip gets a partner! Have fun with your color combinations — pair complementary colors, match prints with solids, or go totally random for a scrappy look.
Place each pair right sides together and sew a ¼-inch seam along one long edge. Do this assembly-line style: feed one pair through the machine, then feed the next one right behind it without cutting the thread (chain piecing). You'll zip through all 20 pairs in no time.
Jenny pairs up jelly roll strips and sews them together — every strip gets a partner!
Step 3: Press and Cut into Units
Press all your sewn strip pairs open, keeping the seam pressed toward the darker fabric. This reduces bulk and makes your intersections lie flat later.
Now cut each sewn strip pair into 5-inch segments. Trim off the selvedge edge first, then measure and cut 5-inch wide pieces. Each strip pair should yield approximately 7–8 units, giving you around 140–160 units total (you'll use about 56 of them, plus extras for layout options).
Each unit will be a little two-toned rectangle: 5 inches wide by approximately 4½ inches tall (two 2½" strips sewn together).
Step 4: Sew Strip Units to Background Squares
Take one of your 5-inch strip units and sew it to one side of a 5-inch background square. Press the seam toward the strip unit. This creates your basic building block — a combined unit that's one part color and one part background.
Repeat for all 56 units. Chain piecing makes this step fly by: feed one pair through the machine, snip, feed the next. You'll have a satisfying pile of finished units in no time.
Step 5: Arrange Your Layout
Lay out your combined units in rows on a design wall or flat surface. Alternate the orientation so that the strip portion and the background square create a checkerboard-like pattern. Each row should alternate the position of the colored strips — if the strip is on the left in row one, it should be on the right in row two.
This is where the Two Step pattern really comes alive. Stand back and take a look — you'll see the colorful strips dancing across the quilt in a rhythmic stepping pattern. Move units around until you're happy with the color distribution.
The Two Step pattern takes shape — look at all those gorgeous colors stepping across the quilt!
Step 6: Sew Rows and Add Borders
Sew your units into rows, pressing seams in alternating directions from row to row (left for odd rows, right for even rows). This lets the seams nest together when you join the rows, giving you perfectly flat intersections.
Once all rows are joined, add your borders:
Inner border: Cut 2½" strips of background fabric and attach to all four sides
Outer border: Cut 6" strips of your border fabric and attach to all four sides
The inner border creates a visual frame between the busy quilt center and the outer border, giving the eye a place to rest.
Step 7: Quilt and Bind
Layer your quilt top with batting and backing fabric. The Two Step pattern works beautifully with straight-line quilting — try quilting ¼" from each seam line, or go with an allover meander for a softer look.
Cut your binding strips, join them on the diagonal, and bind your quilt using your favorite method. The result is a modern, graphic quilt that looks like it took days but really only took an afternoon!
Pro Tips for the Perfect Two Step Quilt
⭐ Pair contrasting strips for drama. The more contrast between your paired strips, the more energy your quilt will have. Light + dark pairings create more visual movement than two similar fabrics.
⭐ Chain piece everything. With 20+ strip pairs and 56+ unit assemblies, chain piecing saves you enormous amounts of time and thread. Keep feeding those pairs through!
⭐ Press toward the darker fabric. This prevents darker fabrics from shadowing through lighter ones and gives you cleaner, crisper seam lines.
⭐ Use a design wall. Even a flannel sheet pinned to the wall works. Being able to step back and see the full layout before you sew makes a huge difference in color distribution.
⭐ Starch your strips before sewing. Jelly roll strips can be a bit wiggly. A light spray of starch before you pair and sew them helps keep everything straight and manageable.
The Two Step quilt proves that sometimes the best things in quilting come in pairs. One jelly roll, one background fabric, one delightful afternoon of sewing — and you've got a quilt that's bursting with color and personality. Jenny's straightforward approach takes all the guesswork out of the process, so you can focus on the fun part: picking fabrics, pairing strips, and watching your quilt come to life one step (or two!) at a time.