Rag Quilt

Quite a few months ago, my friend Emily S. asked me to give her a tutorial on how I make my rag quilts. I told her I'd e-mail this to her but other friends requested me to just put it on the blog, so here it is! If you don't care how to make them, just skip to the end so you can at least see the finished project! It did turn out pretty cute! :)

I will post the instructions then the picture will be under. (Don't read the date of this post...I started it a week ago!)

This is a baby quilt. If you want a larger one, you will need more fabric and cut your squares bigger.

I like to use 4 different fabrics. 1 print, 1 stripe/polka dot/plaid, and 2 solids or in this case almost a tie died solid. That is just my preference. I also use one of the solids for the whole back (see pictures of finished blanket).

Need:
Print: 1/2 Yard

Stripe/Polka Dot/Plaid: 1/2 Yard

1 "Solid": 1/2 Yard

"Solid" you are using for back: 2 1/2 Yards

Batting: 2 Yards (I think!)

Cut all your fabric into 6 inch squares and your batting into 4 1/2 inch squares. (You will need a total of 56 batting squares, 14 squares of each "top fabric" and 70 squares of your "back fabric" (56 for back, 14 for top).

The easiest way to cut your squares is to use a rotary cutter, mat, and one of these big rulers.

Place 1 piece of batting in the middle of 2 fabric squares. Remember your "backing fabric" will be on the bottom of every square. Sew an "X" through every square. (So you will have 2 pieces of fabric with the batting in the middle.) All right sides of the fabric will be facing out.

Hint: It's easiest to just keep the fabric going when you're sewing the "X" then clip them apart when you finish. I do one fabric at a time, clip it, then start on the next print.

After all your squares have the "X" sewn through them, lay them out. You can copy my pattern if you want. If you want it random, I suggest using more fabrics! Sew your squares together. I used a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Sew a couple rows and then sew those rows together.

Continue sewing them all until you have your quilt put together.

With your same seam allowance, sew around the entire quilt.

(this is the part that takes forever!) Get a GOOD pair of scissors that have SHARP tips. Clip ALL seams on the quilt. Around the whole outside of the quilt and all seams in the middle.

All the seams!

Wash it and dry it. I usually wash it by itself because it gets strings and fuzzies everywhere!

Pull it out and it's a cute rag quilt!

This one turned out to be one of my favorites I've made! :) It was for one of my employees who is having a baby in January.

Thanks for looking! If you have ANY questions, please don't hesitate to ask and I'll answer them back in the comments so everyone can see the answer. Some things are hard to explain so if it's not clear, PLEASE ask!