Rag Quilt Tutorial ~

This weekend i finally sat down and completed a rag quilt for my son i have had cut out for quite some time. Before i started i thought that this would make a great tutorial because it is super easy. Rag quilts are great for gifts or yourself. You can use any fabric you choose to make a cute baby quilt, a TV throw, or a warm camping blanket! These blankets are so easy to make and customize to your needs. The nice thing about these quilts is that unlike "real" quilts, they don't have to be perfect! Now that's my kind of quilt! This tutorial is easy for beginners! If you have a sewing machine then hopefully you know how to thread it...hehe! OK....so here it goes!

First you will need to decide how big you want your quilt. The one i made is for my 1 year old son measures 32 inches by 48 inches (crib size). So the amount of material i needed was pretty simple. I chose 4 different materials for the front and i got half a yard of each (i always buy more than i need...you will have some left). The back required about a yard and a half but i got 2 yards. Mistakes happen and having alittle extra material is always good. Side note i always keep my scraps for future "scrap" quilts! :o)

Here is what you will need.

Cutting tool. I use a rotary cutter and it is the best thing EVER!!

Measuring square

Cutting Mat

Thread

Material of choice {i used flannel}. Flannel is nice and snugly warm on its own. If you choose regular cotton fabric you will also need to use very thin batting or broad cloth. Two layers of flannel is as thick as i wanted my quilt to be. Since i had alot of pattern on my material i chose for the front of the quilt...i went with a solid red for the back coordinating color.

My cutting square is a 10 inch square. I decided to go ahead and use a full 10 inches. You can make your squares any size.

Now once you get all your squares cut {i had 20 for the front and 20 for the back} you go thru and put your front squares to your coordinating back squares.

Then you sandwich {quilt} the front and back together with a "X"...see example above.


Here is what the back will look like.

If you use batting or broad cloth in the middle of your quilt this is what it will look like....

Just make sure that the batting is smaller than the top squares by an inch. {pic from old quilt}.

Once you have all your squares "sandwiched"...start laying them out in a pattern. This is all you. You make it how you want to see what were. :o)

Now here is were you get the "rag" look. Once you get your quilt laid out like you want you pick up the first square {start with the top left corner}. Then pick up the one right beside it on the top and put them back to back. This means that the two front sides are visible. Now sew the two together on the right side with a quarter inch seam. When you are done open it and it will have the seam in the middle. Keep repeating this step all across the top. Then move on to the next row. When you are done with each row make sure to put it back on the floor like you originally had it laid out. If you use my exact dimensions and squares you will have 5 rows of 4.

After you finish all the rows go back and pick up the first top 2 rows and sew them back to back like in the beginning. Same quarter inch seam. Continue with the remaining rows. And what you will end up with is this.......

See how all the seams are on the top and not on the back. Once you finish this part you are almost done. The next step is easy. You sew a quarter inch seam all around the outer edge of the quilt.

You are almost done! Now grab a good pair of scissors and plop down in front of the TV. You are going to snip those seam allowances about every 1/4 inch. It won't matter if they are perfect. The intersections of the squares can be tricky, but it won't matter which way you cut them. I just cut along the rows, but whatever you do will be fine. Make sure you cut around the perimeter of the blanket as well.

And now for the easiest step of all! Wash the blanket in the washing machine. That's how you get this cute frayed up look. Make sure you clean out your lint filter before you dry it- you will have a lot of fuzz from this quilt.
Every time you wash it it will get more and more frayed. And the better it looks. :o)
And that is it! You have made a warm snugly rag quilt!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you make a rag quilt of your own.....please email me with pictures!! I would love to see how yours turn out!