A Darling Little Quilt

I think that I have mentioned the dvd series from Franklin Springs Family Media, "Homestead Blessings."  The West Ladies have a wonderful set of dvd's that teach cooking, breadmaking, candlemaking, soapmaking, canning, sewing, quilting...the list goes on!

A sweet and easy project they show on their sewing dvd is a rag quilt done for a baby.  As you all know I sew for my girls a lot and there is always fabric left over from projects that I save in my 'stash' for some unknown project...

Well, a month ago or so, I was digging through my stash and saw all the various shades of pink that I had.  I though of this project and decided to try it.  That day I got my cutting board (for sewing) out and measured out 5x5 inch squares in the various materials.  I had found 6 different patterns and was able to do 6 squares of each one, and set the project aside needing to find the batting and backing material.

I purchased "Warm and Natural" quilt batting by the yard at Joann Fabric and backing material at the PA Fabric Outlet.

Monday I sat down and cut out the batting squares needed and the backing material squares and then put the layers together.  They then are sewn on the diagonal to give an 'X' across each square.  Then it is a simple matter of sewing the pieces together in strips and then sewing the strips together!  Really quick and simple.  The longest part of the whole project was snipping the edges of the quilt so that when it was washed and dried it would ravel and give the 'rag' look.

This little quilt is going to be a gift for a dear friend who is expecting a new baby girl next month.  It was made with love and when I look at it, I see the remnants of skirts and dresses that I have made either for myself, my girls or sweet little friends.

This would be an easy project for younger sewers to work on and I am thinking of making a few "throw" quilts using this idea, but doing larger squares.

This is such a fun and rewarding project!  It is easy to work on ahead of time, by sitting in the evenings and cutting squares out of fabric!  Then on the day of assembly it goes really fast!


Here is a link to my friend Karen's blog - she made a full sized baby rag quilt for the friend of her daughters who is expecting a baby.


Here is a preview of Hannah and Vickie West showing how to sew this quilt!