Something Cozy

I have always been drawn to quilts with texture. Sometimes, that means using 100% cotton batting for that luscious crinkle or hand quilting, but other times it requires something more drastic. Rag quilts and puff, or biscuit, quilts fulfill this ultra-textured requirement to the highest degree. I have yet to make a puff quilt, but this rag quilt is the first (non-mini) quilt that I finished.

Inspiration

This project began with me shopping a Fat Quarter Shop precut sale, I think it was 30% off. I stumbled upon a fat eighth bundle of Effie’s Woods, and quickly fell in love. The whole collection has such a delicate feel to it, and I really liked the foresty vibe. This was my first online fabric purchase, and I was so happy when the fabric arrived at my door. Previously, I had only shopped at Joanns, Hobby Lobby, and one sort of dark, very traditional quilt shop. These fabrics were so vibrant! The fabric had such an amazing feel to it! It was so new and shiny! I was amazed.

The fat eighths sat on my shelf for a couple of months before I settled on what to do with them. The collection is ideal for a girl’s nursery, with the soft and pink color palette and forest animals. The beautiful rag quilt and tutorial from Quilter’s Candy is what finally pushed me to turn the bundle into a rag quilt. I knew the soft and textured quilt would be perfectly suited for a baby girl.

A rag quilt is sewn with the seam allowances, which are extra large, on the right side of the quilt so that they fray and make that yummy texture. After you sew up the quilt, you clip the seam allowances for maximum fray-i-ness (yes, I know that isn’t a real word). Fabric choice is important, ideally you want to choose fabric that frays quite a bit. I ended up using the quilting cotton for the top layer, a cream flannel (flannel frays TONS) for the middle layer, and a warm grey flannel for the back layer. I had to fight the urge to use the cream flannel for the back too, it would have looked so good! But, since I knew I would be gifting it to a baby or toddler I decided that the fewer white surfaces to clean and show messes the better. You can really see the softness and texture of the quilt in the photo below.

I had quite a bit of fun with the label. Embroidery would have required considerable time, so I went with a permanent fabric marker. I named the quilt, listed the baby’s name (don’t worry, I didn’t spill ink all over the label, I just blurred out their name in the photo), signed my name and then included the date finished. This was my first quilt, and I intend to keep up a good habit of detailed labels. It will be so neat to look back at these quilts in thirty years! I time-splurged on the label for my Swirled Spring quilt, you can check out the embroidered label in this post. I finished up this rag quilt label by sewing it onto the quilt back with the raw edges facing up. I clipped the edges before I washed the quilt, so the border of the label is all fluffy and frayed. The mushrooms were cut out of an extra piece of fabric and appliqued onto the label, such a cute little detail!

I’m so happy with the texture of this quilt! In the year since I’ve finished this quilt my taste in fabric has changed considerably, but I still appreciate this fabric collection as an excellent choice for a baby girl’s room.

Project Overview: Woodland Rag

Finished Date: February 2023

Materials: Grey and cream flannel, Effie’s Woods Fat Eighth bundle

Cost: about $50 - $60

Inspiration: Quilter’s Candy Rag Quilt