Update - October Finish

          I just finished the Methodist Cross and Flame rag quilt.  I really dragged my feet getting to this one because I just didn't want to do it.  You can read how hard the first one was for me here. 

This one had it's own challenges.  First I had to find colorfast red and black fabric.  I washed all the fabric beforehand which is something I never do when I usually make a rag quilt since you wash the entire quilt when it's done.

I re-made the pattern pieces using stiffer manila file folders.  They worked very well.  All the pieces were cut and fused just right but I realized it was much smaller than the original Methodist quilt.  Then I remembered that to make the first one work I had to layer the top 9" squares to 10" squares on the middle and the bottom.  So okay, the design would be smaller...I wasn't about to take everything apart and start over. (You can see the 5x5 design in the previous post).

When I was all done with the 5 square by 5 square design I realized 2 things:

1.  This was way too small for an adult size throw rag quilt - - I had to add more squares.

2.  I had measured in the cross' vertical line into the measurement of the cross' horizontal line so the cross looked lopsided - - I had to add more black to one side of the cross.

I actually made this quilt from the insides out.

I had to add one more square of white and one half square of stained glass to each horizontal row making the rows all 7 squares each.  This meant I had to open all the seams, sew the 1 1/2 squares and then resew everything back together 10 separate times...  Ugh!

Then I made the top and bottom all white rows with the 1/2 size squares of stained glass fabric plus add a 1/2 of a half square to make it all fit.  

So far so good doing it basackwards.

Then I had to wash the whole thing.  I must have pause that machine 6 different times to see if anything was bleeding.  Nothing was.  When it was all done I did notice a grayishness over the whole quilt. My heart sank.   I was hoping it was just lint and sure enough that's what it was.  

I put it in the dryer and gradually almost all the gray came off.  I spent the rest of my day today vacuuming and picking the leftover black fluffs off and out of the white fluffy seams.  Every time I walk by the quilt I see one or two more that I need to get off. 

 All in all, I think this quilt turned out gorgeous! 

 (The lady I made it for thinks her friends might also want one of these Methodist rag quilts but I may think twice or three times about doing this again.)

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ZeedleBeez

October WIP's and Finishes - 15 Custom Quilts

Here is my list of 15 custom quilts that I have been working on everyday since early September.

1. Granny's Rag Quilt:  I made this quilt using the housecoats of a grandmother for her granddaughter.  I thought this was such a sweet, beautiful keepsake but this was a very challenging quilt.  It's an optical illusion really.  It looks easy but it was spatially-a real headache.

2. & 3. Black and White Baby Rag Quilts:  (with red embroidered square).  These were made pretty fast.  I wasn't sure how the red middle square would look but I loved how they turned out.

4.  Black and White Throw-size Rag Quilt:  Even though I've done a dozen of these black and whites, I made this one a little different on the back.  I made black on black and white on white wihich resulted in stripes on the back.

5. 6. & 7.  Three  20-square T-shirt Quilts:  Still in the fusing stage

 

 

8.  Foxes Baby Rag Quilt:   I made this for a very nice young mama in KY.

 I liked the fabrics so much I sent her these too:

9.  The Methodist Cross and Flame Rag Quilt:  I did not want to do another quilt like this because the first was very hard to do but I finally relented.   The hard part is done but it still needs one more row of white and a stained glass fabric border.

10. 11. &      12.  Small, Medium and Large Handkerchief Rag Quilts:  The only one I have finished is the Large Hanky Quilt, the others are works in progress.  I was given 184 gorgeous vintage hankies in beautiful condition to make these quilts.  I fell in love with the first one but I'm really looking forward to the medium hanky quilt.

14.  Polo T-shirt Quilt 30 squares:  What a great idea this t-shirt quilt is!  It's made with all Ralph Lauren Polo shirts and bordered by plain simple navy strips.  This quilt looks very high end classy.  I finished the top so far and I'm thinking about putting a plaid flannel on the back.  (That's a pair of cat eyes in the bottom right.  He's always trying to get into pictures.)

15. Rock and Roll T-shirt Quilt 16 squares:  I will be finishing  the quilting on this one today.  I think the black and white check borders really set these shirts off in a very cool way.

What are you doing this month?

3 Reasons Why Hankies Make Beautiful Rag Quilts

         I am working on an order of three Rag Quilts made from large, medium and small vintage hankies.  As I go through the process I am finding that there are at least 3 reasons why hankies make the best, if not the most beautiful rag quilts.

1.  They are already square.
You don't even have to cut them in any way so that saves a step in the quilting process.

2.  No matter how you arranged them, they always look perfect.
You can put different colors or patterns together and they never clash.

3.  Hankies are beautiful works of art to begin with so your quilt is guaranteed to turn out beautiful.
I think hankies are exceptionally beautiful, but extremely undervalued works of art, especially the floral hankies.  They are delicate, soft and oh so feminine.  Each square on a hanky rag quilt will be a "framed" (in fluff) beautiful work of art.

Here is the first of the three Hanky Rag Quilts that I have finished and the WIP's of the other two.

 Here is the layout for the medium hankies WIP

Layout for the small hankies WIP

How I make a Rag Quilt - Part III

    This is the final step in making a rag quilt and it takes the longest.

    When I first started making rag quilts I did this all wrong.  I snipped big chunky cuts out of the seams thinking that with enough washings the seams would fray nicely but I was mistaken.  It only took a couple years to realize that my first quilts were not fraying fast enough.  Then one day I asked my daughter, Katie, to help me cut a quilt.  She proceeded to cut the seams about 1/4 - 1/8th of an inch and I was so afraid she had ruined the quilt since I was cutting about 1/2".  When I washed the quilt the fluff was glorious!  Ever since then I believe the secret to making my rag quilts so fluffy is smaller snips. 

     Also my initial quilts were not cut right because I did not follow the way the seams laid.  I would cut haphazardly and end up with big lumpy spots where the seams met.  Now I know that you cut all the horizontal seams all the same way.  When you get to the point where the two seams are joined cut the "flaps" in the same direction. When you've cut all the long horizontal seams, then cut the vertical. I cut approx. 40 snips in one vertical  9" section.

horizontal and vertical seams

Horizontal seams being cut

You will probably be covered in bits of fluff when you are done cutting.  That's the badge of honor for rag quilters.

When your quilt is completely cut, it's time to wash it.  I usually wash a regular rag quilt on normal but you have to have a good machine because so much fluff can come off your quilt and damage your washer.  It might be a good idea to wash your quilt at a commercial laundry.  Likewise, when you dry it an enormous amount of fluff and lint will come off and block the lint filter.  I usually check the filter at least 3 times .

Fluff and lint from one quilt

When you take your quilt from the dryer you may have to do one more step and that is to use a lint roller to take off the stray fluffs.

The final result will look something like this

How I make a Rag Quilt - Part II

The next step in making a rag quilt is sewing the squares together.  I will be sharing a baby rag quilt here which I usually make a 5 square by 5 square with fleece.

What you will be doing is sewing the traditional X through all three layers of your 9" squares.  I like to do this assembly line style.  I sew a seam diagonally from one corner of the square to the other and without lifting the foot I start another square.

 

 

You can either do this to all your squares at once or if you are an instant gratification type like me, you would only sew the X on your first row so you can then sew those squares together.

Make sure your pattern is intact because sometimes things get out of order when sewing and cutting threads.   (Refer to the picture you hopefully took when the quilt was laying on your floor. - see part I) So...

Step 1:  Sew an X in all your squares with a coordinating color thread  to secure all three layers.  (Sometimes I switch threads like in this quilt because I didn't like the black thread on the white square.)

Step 2:  Sew your five squares together to make the first row.  You do this by grabbing your first square and your second square and sew them WRONG sides together.  (If you are working with a patterned fabric, make sure the design is going the right way.)  I sew a 7/8" seam and back stitch at the beginning and end of the seam.  You can do a bigger or smaller seam but I wouldn't go bigger than 1" or smaller than 1/2". Continue sewing each next square to the previous square until you have your completed row.

 

Step 3:  Joining the rows.  If this is your first rag quilt I would suggest using lots of pins for this step.  You take your first two complete rows and pin WRONG sides together at the seams (and you can also pin at the middle of each square.)

"Kiss" the seams together and then

fold the top part of the seam up and the bottom down.  That way when you sew over this section you can hold down the top seam to guide it through and the bottom part will follow.

Sew all your rows together in this way.


Step 4:  The final step is to sew a seam around the perimeter of the quilt.  I simply start at one edge and sew to the next backstitching at the beginning and end.  To give my quilts a more finished look I do this twice.  The  quilt will look funky and crooked but don't worry that's what it's supposed to look like.

Next post will be Finishing your rag quilt .

How I make a Rag Quilt - Part I

I have already posted a blog on how to make a Handkerchief Rag Quilt so when someone asked me tonight "Where can I get the instructions to make a rag quilt?" I started thinking, I should write my own tutorial.

 I have learned a lot since making my very first rag quilts back in 2003.  They were pretty thin and flimsy and the fluff was big and chunky.  The seams were messed up and they didn't lay right because I was sewing, then cutting them wrong.

Now I know what I'm doing.  Here's how I make a rag quilt:

Step 1:  Pick out your fabrics.  You can use 1 or more fabrics.  I like to lay them all together in the store to see how well they go together.  I have used flannel, cotton, fleece, minky, denim and corduroy and they all have worked very well.

Step 2:  Cut the fabric to 9 x 9" squares.  I like to do 9" because it will give you 16 squares from 1 yard.

Step 3:  Lay the squares out in a pattern you  like.  You can do diagonals like this:
  

 or a diamond pattern like this:

or a random pattern like this:

Or any pattern you like.

I like to lay my designs out on the floor or the bed and play with it till I get it just right and pleasing to the eye.  Then I take a picture of it just for insurance.  I can't tell you how many times I have been so grateful for that picture.

Once you have your top layer done you can add the middle and the bottom layers.  The easiest way to do this is to cut 2 slices of 9 x 9" flannel in a coordinating color for each top square.  (You can have all three layers together before you lay out your design as well).

Step 4:  I might be a little anal about this step but it sure helps me keep things organized.  I pick up the squares beginning with the 1st square on top and go down the line of the 1st row.  Then I go to the next row and pick up all the squares from left to right and stack that row on top of the first at a different angle something like collating papers.  Your finished stack should look like this:

 

Let me pause here and tell you something about the fabrics. 

•  I have made quilts with  flannel in every layer.  A quilt made from all flannel is very easy to sew and cut.  
• I have used fleece in the middle and backing.  I would never use more than one slice of fleece per square.  Cutting through a quilt with a fleece layer is more difficult.  I usually use fleece in baby quilts for the extra cushioning.  Also fleece does not fray but just gives an illusion of fraying when paired with other fabrics that do fray.
• I have used cotton on the top and bottom layers of rag quilts.  It is very easy to cut through but the fluff of the seams is much thinner.
• Using minky is tricky.  I have used it on the tops and bottoms of quilts but never in the middle.  I ALWAYS pin the squares with minky in them because the minky has a tendency to  stretch and I don't take the pins out until  the entire square has been sewn.  Cutting minky is never a precise job.  It can look a little "wonky" and it doesn't fray.  It does add a very soft, lush feel to the quilt.

Next blog post will talk about sewing the quilt.

What I sewed on my summer vacation

  

                                                             

I am a teacher so I have summer's off.  I am a rag quilter so I like to sew.  Here is 

what I sewed during the summer of 2013: 

                                     

 

            

                                                   

 

   

 

                                                   

11 pillows,  2 table runners, 11 letters of the alphabet,  4 burpies and bib, 1 cat blanket w/pocket,  14 9-squares for an I spy quilt in progress,  3 hot air balloon decorations, 2 baby dresses, 11 rag quilts, 24 tea wallets, 1 t-shirt quilt top and 1chevron stripe rag quilt in progress.  The last two should be done by the end of this week and then I start back at school.  It was a great summer!