Hi! I'm new to this forum and fairly new to quilting, but have found that I love making rag quilts. Maybe it's because they are so forgiving? :-)
I made my first rag quilt a couple of years ago, and I like the way it turned out. The one thing I do not like about rag quilts is having to sew an "X" in the squares - I think it takes away from the look of the pattern. I used 100% cotton for the top and backing, and flannel for the middle layer (as with all of my rag quilts). I had read somewhere that the flannel will 'hold the fabric in place', so I thought why do it? It's made up of 8" and 4" squares, and is about the size of a baby quilt. Photo of this quilt is below.
A few small-sized rag quilts later, I decided why not make a king-size bed quilt? (What was I thinking?!?) Anyway, it is done, it just needs to be washed and dried - at a laundromat. It's made up of 143 8" squares, plus 3 borders (sides and bottom).
My concern is the way I did the borders - instead of more 8" squares, I made longer 5" strips. As with this quilt, I did not sew X's on any part of it. I'm afraid it will not turn out as nice as the others. I did sew each square and border into sandwiches first. One other thing I did not do is wash the fabric or flannel first. You see, I have a really bad habit of doing things first, then reading directions...
I'm curious to know if there are others who make rag quilts without sewing X's, or any other design on their quilts. If so, are you happy with it/them? What's the worst thing that could happen?
Thanks for any advice and/or suggestions!
Julie
This message was edited Sep 13, 2015 7:54 AM
