Flannel Rag Quilt

Well this is about the 4th rag quilt I have made. I have found some tutorials online but well can the Internet really have too many tutorials?

If you have never tried quilting and have limited sewing skills (like I can only sew in a straight line) then a rag quilt is perfect for you. It doesn't have to be perfect and you really only have to sew in a straight line.

So here are the materials you need...
These measurements are for a baby sized rag quilt approx 31"x46"

1.25 (44" wide) yards of flannel for the back of the quilt
1.25 (44" wide) yards of flannel for the middle of the quilt (this can be neutral or contrasting)
1.75 (44" wide) yards of flannel for the top of the quilt (I break this up a bit and use different fabrics)
            in this quilt.... .5 of the Green Bugs, .5 of the Blue Bugs, .75 of the yellow gingham.
Thread (either matching or contrasting it is up to you
Raging spring loaded scissors
Roller Cutter, cutting board and ruler (optional you can use scissors and a ruler too)
Washer and Dryer

Step 1:
Cut your fabric. I sued 6" squares for this quilt.
Cut 48 for the back, 48 for the middle, 48 for the top (for this quilt 12 Green, 12, Blue, 24 Yellow)



Step 2:
Layout your quilt. Depending on how you are designing your top you may need to play around with placement or your squares. For this one I used a diagonal pattern as you see in the picture. For my quilt I did 8 rows of 6 squares each. (I admit this quilt is actually only 6x6 since I was short one of my fabrics but the point is the same).

Stack the rows together.

Each row is now in a stack.

This just shows the order

Step 3:
Make your sandwiches.
Place a bottom, middle and top piece together (keep the tops in order of your rows for your own sanity latter). You want to lineup your sandwiches the best you can. The picture shows you the order (and the bottom piece is face down) don't have it all spread out like this.
NOTE: When placing the sandwiches together make sure the bottom is right side OUT and top is right side OUT, the middle doesn't matter.

Step 4:
Pin squares together. Bottoms together and top side out. This is back wards for what most sewers do and put the right sides together and hide the seam in the back. Here we don't want to do that we want the seam on the top.



Step 5:
Sew each square in the rows together with 1/2" seam allowance.

Seams going in opposite ways.

Step 6:
Pin rows together.
Hint... Make sure you keep you seams going the same way through out it will make life easier. I fold the top seam over  one way and the bottom seam the other (bottom going with the sewing machine cause it is easy that way.)

Step 7:
Sew rows together with 1/2" seam allowance. Make sure to back stitch  at the end of each row.

Zigzag Binding

Step 8:
Add a binding around the edge. Some people use an actual binding, I don't I just use a binding stitch. In this case a simple zigzag stitch about 1/2" from the edge of the quilt all the way around to hold the edges together.

Step 9:
Clip the seam allowances about every 1/4" on ALL your seams. You will want to use those spring loaded ragging scissors now or you will get blisters and a cramp in your hand for sure. Make sure at the corners you only clip in one direction where they meet or you will end up with a hole in the seams.
Hint... Have a system for doing this part so you don't miss any seams.

Step 10:
Machine wash and Dry your quilt.
Do this with NOTHING else in the washer or dryer as it will loose lots of piece of string, and you will be picking it off of other things forever.
Dry it on a medium setting to really help the ragging fluff nicely.

Step 11:
Check your seams to make sure you didn't accidentaly clip any seams. If you did then sew over those again so your quilt wont have a hole (I always have to do this no matter how careful I am).

Your quilt is now finished.