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
