This week I wanted to make something for Alexis, my two and half year old. Rag quilts – they’re quick and easy and they take everything you know about traditional quilting and throw it out the window. I whipped this one up in less than a day.
First, I picked up some cotton flannel at the fabric store. I wanted one of the squares and the back of the quilt to be a solid pink color, so I bought three yards of that and a yard each or a light stripe, dots, and elephant print. Some of the tutorials I’ve seen for these call for using batting between the squares, which also means sewing an ‘X’ in the center of each square. I skipped this step entirely and used a second layer of pink flannel both for additional warmth and also more fringe-y raggedy goodness.
I squared up my fabric and cut out 6″ blocks. My quilt is 8 blocks wide by 6 blocks high, so I cut 48 each of pink backing and middle, and 12 each of my four front blocks.
I started by laying out rows of backing, topped it with rows of the middle fabric, and then finished with the pattern blocks on top of that.
Starting at the bottom right corner, I grabbed two blocks, held them WRONG sides together (see what I mean about quilting rules be damned), and sewed along one side with a 3/4″ seam allowance. The I grabbed the next two and sewed them together, and so (sew) on until I had one complete row. Notice that there’s no pinning involved yet? Once I had all six rows done, I pinned two rows, again with the WRONG sides together. I made sure to pin and open each seam so that I could sew over the top. The bundle was sewn with a 3/4″ seam allowance. I repeated this until the entire thing was assembled. I don’t have pictures of these steps because my camera battery decided to crap out mid-project and I was done by the time it charged.
Now for the tedious part – cutting all of the raw edges of fabric to get that rag look. Longest part of the project, and my hand is STILL sore, but totally worth the effort.
Here’s what it looks like before washing.
And here’s the finished product. Lex adores her new blanket.
Very pretty!
I’m going to make one of these for my new grandbaby. As soon as we find out if it’s a boy or girl. I think these quilts are so cozy warm. I love the pinks and browns you put in yours!
Beth