DIY Rag Quilt

When my niece was born this summer, I knew that I wanted to give her something handmade as a gift. My sister-in-law had mentioned once that she liked the look of "those rag quilts" and what a coincidence - I had recently pinned a few rag quilt tutorials on my Pinterest page! After seeing the beautiful colors my sister-in-law picked out for her nursery (a sort of teal or aqua color with pink and white accents - it is gorgeous!) I knew a quilt in those colors would be a perfect gift!

For the most part, I followed this tutorial by Poofy Cheeks. I didn't follow it completely, but it was my 'inspiration'. Check it out - her rag quilt is beautiful!

Disclaimer:  As a beginner to sewing, I am not the best with the terminology and explanation. I'm working on it though! 

I recommend making a diagram, indicating the placement of each strip.  I had five different types of flannel and I didn't want to accidentally put the wrong color on and have to take it back off. Because that's something that I would do! 

Also-I washed all of my fabrics before I started, because I knew from experience that they could run and/or shrink up a little. 

I cut my strips of fabric to be 38 long (because that was the length of the shortest fabric) and 5 inches wide. You actually loose two inches on each side of the strips due to the part that is cut up and 'ragged'. I did five strips of each of the five different pieces of fabric.

You put the backsides of two pieces of fabric together and sew one inch in.  This gives you your 'flap' between each piece that will be cut into little strips and 'ragged'.

Little Miss wanted to help me sew! Please ignore my needs-to-be-organized craft area!

This quilt took me quite a while to make, especially since I am such a beginning sewer. However, it was the perfect first big project for me because it was very forgiving if the seams weren't perfectly straight, due to the 'rag' part of the quilt.  I had only previously sewn some curtains, a few basic Halloween costumes and some rice-filled heat packs, so this was a big step for me. 

Instead of putting two pieces back to back and both side of the blanket being made of strips, I decided to do one solid-colored piece on the back.  I thought maybe if she used it for sleeping and not just for play, that the solid part might be more comfy to lay on. I used the sort-of-flowered teal fabric for the back. 

Because the strips weren't exactly even, I had to do some 'touch up' on each side to square them up. 

The sewing part was tough (for me, anyways) but the 'ragging' part was easy. It just takes a long time to do.  The woman at the fabric store found out what I was making and directed me to a special pair of scissors that would work well for this part. I think they were these Fiskars Micro-Tip scissors. I couldn't find mine in my (messy) craft area to take a real photo of them.

You just take the part of the fabric to be cut and cut every 1/2 inch or so. Cut almost all the way to the seam.  And really - however you decide to cut it is fine, just be consistent in the distance between each cut. 

Sorry - I didn't take photos of this process!

When you are done, you need to throw your blanket in the dryer for a bit in order to make it look more 'ragged'.

And of course Hannah had to copy Mama and take her own photos of the quilt! :)

Again, sorry for the confusing directions above. I highly recommend visiting Poofy Cheeks and checking out her tutorial - much better explanation! 

And her is a photo of me meeting my beautiful niece for the first time at the hospital! Love you Baby K!

Linking up to:  The Creative Connection at Wait Til Your Father Gets Home and Sugar Bee Craft's Take-A-Look Tuesday and A Bowl Full of Lemons One Project At A Time.