Scissors are essential because you will be clipping every seam allowance throughout the quilt, and the clips will be between 1/8 and ¼ inches apart. Choose a Clipping Scissorīefore we talk about the clipping step, I want to talk a little bit about the scissors. I removed the lint using an attachment on my vacuum cleaner. This is a picture of my sewing machine after completing one throw-sized rag quilt. Remember to give your sewing machine a cleaning after each rag quilt. Finally, stitch a securing stitch one-half inch from the rag quilt’s outer edges around the outer edges of your rag quilt. We continue to connect the blocks to complete the quilt. I also backstitch when sewing over seam allowances where they match because there are many thicknesses, and I want everything to be secured. The process is sew the row together, removing the binder clips as I come to them during the blocks’ stitching. I laid the seam allowance open on both sides, match the seams, and put a binder clip on each side. We find that straight pins did not easily go through all the layers. I also recommend using binder clips to hold the blocks together to stabilize the many layers. Backstitching gives a little more security to the seams. When stitching the blocks into rows, I recommend backstitching at the beginning and end of each seam to secure everything. When I make a rag quilt, I increase the seam allowance to 1/2-inch, and the seam allowance is faced to the top of the rag quilt so that I can snip the seam allowances to create the soft rag look in the final quilt. In a traditional quilt, I use ¼-inch seam allowances and press them to the quilt’s backside. In the next step, I attach the blocks in rows. There is no need to backstitch when stabilizing stitching because the stitching ends will be in the seam allowances. I also use a walking foot on my sewing machine to help the layers move through the sewing machine at the same rate so that everything will stay aligned and flat. When I stitch these stabilizing rows of stitching, I increase my stitch length to 3.0 so that the stabilizing crisscross stitching will look a little more decorative. The stitching is essential because I am working with six thick layers when I am sewing two three-layer blocks. I stitch a diagonal line across the blocks and another line that creates a crisscross that stabilizes everything so the layers stay together as I am sewing. I like to use a bright color in the middle layer and coordinates with the top but contrasts with the other two layers. It is helpful when I am doing this to keep in mind that I will clip the edge so that it frays to create that soft edge. I assure the material that will be on the back of the rag quilt is right side down, and then I add a piece of flannel for the middle and another piece of flannel for the top. You can make the blocks the size that best fits your creativity. I find that 7-inch squares allow me to use several coordinating flannel fabrics. I start by cutting flannel yardage into squares. My quilt included ten blocks across and 13 rows. I like to use 7-inch blocks to make a baby quilt. This design phase is also the time to determine the size of your quilt. This process feeds my creativity and gives me a chance to change things before I start stitching. I like to draw a simple design on a piece of graph paper to determine the quilt layout. That gave us a nice, ragged edge on each block that allowed us to create a soft frayed rag type design. In addition to the denim on the backside of the quilt, we used two layers of flannel. We use several flannel prints and a denim print that we used on the quilt blocks’ backside. If you are interested in a demonstration of the process from the beginning to the end, check out the video. The basic tools you need for a rag quilt include things such as a cutting mat, a rotary cutter, rulers, binder clips, walking foot, and yardage for the blocks that you will be making.
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