SewBadJuJu : Baby Rag Quilt

There is no bigger or better reward for me than receiving pictures of a new born baby wrapped up in a beautiful baby Rag Quilt that I made.

Isn't she precious? Lola's cute as a button too! :)

My long standing favorite baby quilt is the Rag Quilt. I've made a ton of these cuties and it never gets old! Each time a new baby is on the way, I pull some flannel from my stash along with some new and I'm off! My standard square (block) size is 6". Having a standard helps because I can take some left over squares from the last three baby girl quilts and add some new and I'm already half way done! (well sort of!)

Cut your unwashed flannel in whatever size you are most comfortable with, just remember you'll be taking a very large seam, I like a 1" seam for these. This is what's going to give the quilt it's ruffle/lace/rag look we want. I like to use about 5 different flannels sometimes I'll also throw minki in the mix! It's just so soft and cuddly!

I find the next step very therapeutic: it's sewing criss crosses over each square, keeping the WST and then chain sewing them. I sew all the squares in one direction, cut them apart, then sew them in the opposite direction and cut them apart.

My Nephew, who's 2 was over one day when I was at this step. He literally sat on my lap for 3 hours and "helped" me sew the criss crosses over the squares. He was so intrigued by all of it. He loved it! Now every time he comes over he asks if he can sew with me....be still my beating heart!!

The next step is another fun part: laying them out!
I make 7 rows of 7. I spend a good amount of time auditioning the layout. I want to make sure the colors are even. A really great trick is to take a picture of the layout and eye it over.

Once it feels right, I use my Dritz Mark-B-Gone Marking Pen to label the rows. (I've used this pen forever! It's so helpful to have on hand. Any marks you make during construction lasts - unlike chalk! Once you're ready for the marks to B-Gone, you just wet it and it disappears! I label the squares/rows incase I'm interrupted in the middle so I don't need to waste much time figuring out where I left off. 1-7 across the top and A-G top down.

Let's sew!

I take the squares in row two and flip them on top of row one and pin it on the right side.

I then make a short stack working from the bottom row up, making an off set stack. I chain stitch these together with a 1" seam (leaving them connected) and move right. I then take row four, and flip the squares on top of three and repeat.

Once that's done, I'll connect three to two, then then five to four, you get it?

Keeping all them all chained together really helps keep everything straight.

Now you're going to sew the rows together across, folding row 'A' down on top of 'B'.

Remember your 1" seam allowance! Once it's all sewn together you'll want to sew a 1" seam around the entire perimeter.

When the sewing is done, let the snipping begin!

Now we make a million little 1/4" cuts or so along the seams. Trying your best not to cut past the seam stitch. This might get a little tricky at the begining so just take your time until you get the hang of it.

I've tried lot of different scissors and the Fiskers 5" Easy Action Scissors work the best for me. You won't believe how tired your hand can get! Once all the snipping is done, you need to wash the quilt at least 3x to get the full rag look and feel you are going for.

Be aware that anything you put in the wash with the quilt -especially the first few times- will be covered in lent! The washing and drying process will remove all the little threads away to give you this incredibly soft and cuddly little baby blanket.

If you're new to quilting, I'd suggest this be your first! If you have an interest but haven't tried it yet, this is a great 'dip your toe in' quilt! The size isn't overwhelming, and your only purchase is flannel and coordinating thread. No batting is necessary! And it's all straight sewing! You can do this!