Category Archives: Rag Quilt

My Second Winter Project Is Finished

homemade, Rag Quilt, Reflections, Sewing

It’s been a couple weeks since I finished my second big winter project. I have just been negligent in blogging about it. This project is a rag quilt that I made for our bed.

This quilt was more involved than the t-shirt quilt I made for my daughter because for her quilt she supplied the t-shirts and selected the flannel that it would be backed with. Also our bed is queen size so this quilt is larger than the one I made for her.

For our quilt I started with selecting the materials. It took several trips to the fabric shop before I had all that I would need. Our bedroom is done in blues and browns so I decided to stick with (mostly)those colors.

Fabric for quilt topside
Fabric for quilt underside

One of the reasons it took so many trips to the fabric store is because I didn’t really have a plan. So I took so measurements then drew it out on graph paper.

I decided to do an on-point design (the squares line up on a diagonal) and to use 12 inch squares. Once I knew how many squares I would need, 72 squares for each layer, I finished buying fabric. The quilt would be three layers but for the middle layer I planned on using an old flannel sheet set that I had so I only needed to buy enough fabric for the top layer and underside.

It wasn’t until I had purchased all of my fabric that I added the colors to this chart determining the actual pattern. This project actually involved a lot of math. You’ll notice some of the squares have different colors in them, these were changes that I made in the design and the inner most color was the correct one.

This chart was my road map throughout the cutting and sewing process. I would have been lost without it.

When cutting the fabric I layered the three fabrics together then made my cuts.

After I had all 72 squares (x three layers) cut it was time to start sewing. I sewed the layers together by stitching and X across each square.

Then I began piecing and sewing the rows together according to my chart.

In the above photo I was almost at the halfway point.

When the sewing was finished (above) it was time to start clipping the edges as in the photo below.

Clipping the edges was probably the longest part of the project with most of the edges having six layers of fabric to clip through (the outside edges had three layers) but the task was made a bit easier by using these small snip-type scissors that I purchased on one of my trips to the fabric store.

Once all of the clipping was finished it was time to wash and dry. This causes the edges to ruffle. While the quilt was drying I stopped the dryer every 15 minutes to empty the lint filter. The first few times it definitely needed to be emptied. There was less lint the last couple of times I emptied it but still enough to clean it out.

I’m very pleased with how it turned out and my husband was wowed. He has commented several times on how much he likes it and how warm it is. 🙂

I like the design on the underside as well so reversing the quilt is always an option.

Thanks for visiting.

Winter Projects – I’ve Finished The First One

Crafts, homemade, Rag Quilt, Reflections

I had two big winter projects planned and I’m happy to say that I have finished the first and I’m working on the second.

For two years my youngest daughter, Lindell, worked in promotions for iHeartRadio. Last fall she told me she had a bunch of t-shirts that she received while working at iHeart that she would like made into a quilt. I told her I would be happy to do it, but it would not be until after the holidays, and she would have to pick out some flannel that she wanted go along with the t-shirts. I would make them into a rag quilt. For a tutorial click here.

It was early December when we shopped for the fabric but it wasn’t until after Christmas that I began cutting up shirts and laying things out.

iHeartRadio has several FM radio stations in Detroit, all broadcasting out of the same location. She worked for all of them. The t-shirts she received were from various promotional events she attended. Some of them were printed with a logo on the front and event sponsors names on the back and also identified her as “Staff” (“Camper?”).

I set them out in several different designs trying to find the right balance.

Each t-shirt block is backed by two layers ( blocks) of flannel. I stitched an X across each block to hold the three layers together.

Each of the flannel blocks is also backed by two layers of flannel.

On this kind of quilt the seams are sewn on the outside. Once they are all sewn together the seams are clipped about every 1/ 4 to 1/2 inch then when the quilt is washed and dried the clipped seams create a ruffle.

I continued to lay the pieces out on the floor in between steps to make sure things were coming together the way I wanted them to.

If Trooper was around when I Iaid it out on the floor he would immediately go and lie down on it. I often put a blanket down on the floor for Trooper to lay on while I brush him, so I guess he thought he was going to get brushed. This was ok because the very last step was to wash the quilt.

One of my biggest challenges was deciding how to include this pocket from a hooded sweatshirt that said “UNEEK Detroit”. It’s size and shape were unlike any of the other blocks so I had to come up with a unique way to use it.

I went with my first thought, to make it into a unique shaped panel at the top of the quilt, because I needed/wanted the extra length in the quilt. I stitched the pocket to a block of flannel with a unique pattern. The other option that would have worked was to make it into a pillow instead of putting it in the quilt.

I was quite pleased with the end result and my daughter was thrilled with it. I had to lay it out on the table for the final pictures since it was already washed. The table is not big enough to get the whole thing in on shot – sorry.

For the back side my original plan was to have a symmetrical design with the blocks but a mid-project change in the blocks on the front messed up that plan. Oops! None-the-less Lindell loved it and was eager to take it home and wrap up in her beautiful memories.

What’s keeping you busy these days?

Below is a sneak preview of my second winter project.

Be sure to follow this blog to see how this one comes together.

Thanks for reading and remember Make It A Great Day! 🙂