HOW TO: rag quilt

Finished Project: 42” x 42”
Fabric Requirements: 6 fabrics, ½ yard of each


You can do this type of quilt in so many different ways. You can do lots of different sizes and you can make it easy or hard. It all works.

For this example I decided on 6 squares by 6 squares, so 36 total squares. Each of those 36 squares is 7” x 7”. And I picked out 6 different fabrics.

I try to pick soft, textured or flannel fabrics if you are making it for a baby. They also fray a lot better than regular cotton fabrics. My favorite fabrics for this project are chenille or minky fabrics.

Unlike most quilts, this one does not have a separate backing you sew to the front once it’s completed. Because of this, you need to double the amount of square: 36 squares for one side, so you will need 72 total cut squares. You cut 12, 7x7 squares out of each ½ yard of fabric. Six fabrics, each cut into 12, 7x7 squares = 72 squares.

Once you have them all cut out you place them wrong side’s together (right sides facing out). So now you have a total of 36 pieces/squares (6 fabric sandwiches of each fabric).
You can put a piece (same size of cut fabric square, so you will have to cut the batting into squares) of batting between the 2 pieces of fabric. I put batting between all fabrics except for minky and chenille (they are thick enough on their own).

Once you have all 36 fabric sandwiches ready to go, you will sew each one individually. Sew a big X on the square; top corners diagonally to bottom corners. When all done, you will have 36 fabric sandwich squares sewn.

Now arrange the pieces how you want them to look in the finished product. Place 6 across and 6 down and create your own look. I change it up each time. Sometimes I will place them randomly, sometimes I picked an order/pattern and stick with that.

Once you have decided how you want it to look and where you want each square, you get to start sewing all the pieces together. I do ½ inch seams on everything.
Sew each square to the next square starting with the top row. After you have all the squares sewn together in rows, sew each row to another row, until you have sewn everything together.
You will then have to sew around all 4 edges of the quilt. You do this so when you cut/fray the edges, it wont continue to fray further than you want it to.

Once it is all sewn together, to make it look rag, you cut/fringe all the edges. This is done by snipping with scissors all available edges, but don’t snip through the seams! By doing this, you have created a binding. You also cut/fringe the backside of the quit where all the seams are showing.

When finished snipping everything, you will want to wash it. This will make the snips you made look fringed.

Looking at the finished project, you will see the front and the back of the quilt will be the same fabric, but one side will be smooth and one side will have the fringe/rag look.

There are so many variations of this quilt. That’s what makes it so fun and enjoyable. You can always find a way to make it your own!