I’ve lost count of how many quilts I’ve made over the years, which is probably a good thing. (I might be embarrassed to know the total number.) But in all my years of sewing and quilting, I had never made a rag quilt . . . until recently that is! Armed with a great pattern and some charming holiday themed flannels, my home is ready for Christmas visitors thanks to this new quilt.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, a rag quilt is made by sewing sandwiched blocks (a block top, a piece of batting, and a block bottom) together with exposed seams, which are then snipped to create a frayed, fuzzy effect after washing. It’s much less exact and fussy than typical quilt piecing, making it much more fun!
For my project I used a darling pattern called Hearthside Rag Quilt by Terri Staats of Sweet Treasures Quilts. Terri’s patterns are always so well written. She gave me all of the guidance I needed to make my first ever rag quilt. As a fellow pattern designer, I appreciate Terri’s detailed instructions and tips.
The flannels (brushed cotton) you see in my quilt are from a collection called Hearthside Holiday by Deb Strain for Moda. Sweet Treasures still has some of that collection available, as well as Deb Strain’s Holiday Lodge collection!
I purchased these fabrics from Sweet Treasures months ago. I ordered extra fabric and made my quilt a little bigger. Terri\’s pattern features 12 blocks set off by sashing and corner stones. My quilt features 20 blocks set off in the same fashion. All I had to do was make additional block, cornerstone, and sashing sandwiches. It really was a snap to make a larger size!
There is no need to send out a rag quilt for machine quilting, as you do the simple straight-line quilting on each block as you go. There is also no need to do binding on a rag quilt. Two more reasons to give this project a try!
For this project, I did invest in a Fiskars Easy Action Rag Quilt Snip. It has a comfortable grip with a spring-action design. (Your hand does get a little tired after all that snipping.) I was glad I invested in this tool, as I’m sure I’ll make another rag quilt in the future!
Hats off to Sweet Treasures Quilts for inspiring me to try something new. It’s fun to get carried away with another quilting technique!
~Taunja
This is fabulous! So — the entire quilt is flannel fabric? Any special batting? Would love to try this out for a baby quilt. Thanx!
I helped finish a rag quilt for a friend – but allowed her the privilege of using her dryer once all the snipping was done :)! Love, love your rag quilt – each block is so sweetly framed with the exposed seams. You did a beautiful job of this, Taunja!
My first quilt was a ragg quilt, it's on my bed and it's so cozy & warm. Top is reg. cotton but the backing is flannel…so warm…yours is so darling
A very cozy winter quilt! Love it!
I love this! I made many a rag quilt about 10 years ago but they were all simple squares of flannel and not an actual design. Yours is very cute and is going to look much different once washed and dried.
Thanks Marianne! It was really a fun project!
Thank you! Ready for winter now!
They sure are cozy and warm!!
I really enjoyed doing this project. I washed and dried it and I didn't think the thread thing was too bad. They collected in my lint try and I was able to toss them in one swoop. I was a bit worried about that part. 🙂
Thanks Catherine! I should have mentioned in my post that I actually used whatever bits of batting I had in my fabric closet . . . leftover scraps from other projects. I think most of the pieces were Quilter's Dream 100% cotton, but I may have had a couple of blends in there. I was focusing on being economical and using what I had. ha ha!
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