Baby Rag Quilt Tutorial

January 25, 2010 by Kara | 106 Comments

So, I mentioned last week that we were in the middle of some tough adoption decisions. They continue. We had a birth mother tell us she wanted to place her baby with us. Our case worker called us to confirm it. Then a couple of red flags went up and our case worker told us not to get too excited. So as of right now, we just don't know. But we feel at peace. Our prayers are being answered in small ways every day. We know if this baby is meant to be a part of our family, it will all work out. If not, we know our baby is coming. Sometime. We want to be ready.

I know it seems a little crazy, but I find it very therapeutic to work on baby projects. My latest was making a rag quilt. (I think that's what they're called.) Just finished it this weekend. I've always loved them and wondered how they were made. My friend Tracie (who is hopefully picking up her daughter from Korea this week), showed me how. It's really quite simple, but does involve a few steps. I worked up some rag quilt directions for you just in case you have a hankering to make a stinkin' cute baby blanket.

Update: I get questions all the time about what fabric to use, so I thought I'd better explain it here.
-Flannel is the best fabric for rag quilts, because it frays the best.
-Cotton also works really well, it just doesn't make seams that are quite as soft and fluffy. -Minky does not fray, so it isn't the best choice for a rag quilt. You can use it on one side, but if you use it on both your seams won't fray, they will just look sloppy. If you do decide to use it on one side, I'd recommend using flannel for the other side.
Hope that helps clear up confusion.

Baby Rag Quilt Tutorial

1-The first thing you need to do is pick a pattern for your quilt, then decided the size you want it to be. I cut up a bunch of little 1" squares so I could arrange them in different patterns. I tried a few and liked this one the best:

It has 64 squares in it. I decided to cut my squares 5". This will make a quilt that is 32×32". You can use any size of squares that you want and make your quilt any size that you want. For this size, I used 1 1/4 yards of fabric for each side, so a total of 2 1/2 yards.

2-Next you will need to cut out all of your fabric squares. I used my rotary cutter, and I highly recommend that. You can cut them by hand, but it is very hard to get them all straight, so it is harder to sew it together. Refer to your pattern to know how many squares of each fabric you need to cut. (TIP: If you lay your pattern out on a piece of felt, it won't slide around.)

I decided to make the back of my quilt pink, but you could use the same pattern on the back and the front if you like.

3-Next you need to cut out your batting. I used warm and natural. It needs to be cut one inch smaller than the fabric squares. I cut my pieces 4 inches. Figured out that math all by myself thank you very much.

4-Take your back fabric and place it right side down. Lay the batting on top of it. See how there is a 1/2" border all the way around?

Now take a piece of your top fabric and lay it right side up on top of the batting. I just laid it crooked so you could see how all the layers go together.

Make sure all the edges are even and pin it on two sides.

5-Using a straight stitch, sew an x in the middle of the square. Make sure you don't sew all the way to the corners. You want to leave about 1/2" at each corner. Basically you are just sewing over where the batting is. It was hard to see on the dark fabric, so I switched out for my pink fabric. Sorry to confuse you.

6-After you have completed all of your squares, it is time to start sewing them together. Pay close attention to your pattern so you are sewing them together correctly!

Take one square "sandwich" and lay it right side down. Place another "sandwich" right side up. Again, they are crooked just so you can see what it looks like.

Line up all of the edges and pin one side:

7-Now sew a straight line down the one side, using a 1/2" seam.

When you open it, it will look like this on the front:

And this on the back:

8-Keep going till you have finished all of your rows. Here is my first row all done:

9- Now it is time to sew your rows together. Yippee!
Take the first row and lay it right side down. Place the second row on top, right side up.

Match up all the seams and pin them together:

Then place pins in between the seams:
Now sew down the side, using a 1/2" seam. Sometimes it is a little tricky getting it even. I had to kind of push the top fabric through so that it wouldn't bunch at the seams.

When you are done, pull out all the pins and open it up. It should look like this:

10-Keep adding rows and sewing them together. You can start to see the design take shape. Woohoo!

Keep pinning and sewing until you have them all sewn together.

11-When you are done, you will need to sew around the edge of the quilt. Sew a straight stitch all the way around the edge, using a 1/2" seam.
12-Now it's time to clip those seams! Put in a movie, because this part takes awhile. You will need really sharp scissors. Just go around the entire quilt, clipping every seam. You want to get close to the thread, but MAKE SURE YOU DON'T CUT IT!

It should look something like this:

13-Clip off all of the loose threads on the back and front of the quilt.

We are getting soooo close:

14-Your rag quilt looks pretty great at this point, but to really fluff up those seams, you need to wash and dry it. I did mine in cold water on the permanent press cycle, then dried it on high heat. When it comes out, voila: