Tuesday, June 15, 2010

A Tuesday Tutorial


My precious cousin....niece....no, cousin....Stephanie (who is only a year older than Jess, and since I'm the oldest grandchild....I feel like I should be her Aunt!!!)....anyway, she's expecting a baby boy in August!!! 
We're so happy for her and her hubby and his big sister!!!    
I wanted to do something special for her because she's very special to me....so I made her....the baby....a "rag" quilt....but told her she could use it until he gets here!!!
  
Here's a little tutorial on how it's done, just in case y'all don't already know....

For the blanket I made, I had 5 squares across and 7 squares down.  I cut my top square and my backing into 7" squares 
(I used cotton for the top and flannel for the back). 
I also cut a 6" square piece of batting for the center of each square.
Place the 3 pieces together and sew an "X" on the top of the square.  
I used turquoise thread on top and brown thread in the bobbin....just so it would look nicer.

Here's a close-up of a top square....
And....the backing....
Then....you sew your squares together using a 1/2" seam.
(I didn't get pics of this part...sorry)....
....but, you sew them together wrong sides together....which leaves your seam on the top.  After you get all your squares sewn together....now comes the not so easy part.  You cut...and cut...and cut....about 1/4" apart....around each and every square....down to your seam.  Also, sew a seam all around the perimeter of your blanket (1/2 ") and clip the outside, too.  Be extra careful cutting, but if you do happen to snip thru the seam, just take your quilt back to the machine and sew back over the seam again....no biggie!!!

Now...after you've down all that cutting...you wash your blanket...and....you need to wash it all by itself 
(I now have a top that I'll never get all the lint off of!!!).  
Then, you put it in the dryer. 
The little 1/4" seams you made all around the blanket will fray...and become "raggie".  You'll probably want to clean your lint filter a couple of times before the blanket gets completely dry.

Here's the finished product....and I hope by looking at the pictures you can get a better idea of how it's sewn together and what I mean about clipping all the seams. 

See the little salamander and frogs and snails, etc. on some of the blocks? I just cut those out and used a zig-zag seam to stitch them onto the polka-dot blocks after I had done the "X" seam!!

I was so happy that Stephanie loved her blanket!!!

If y'all have any questions, I'll try my best to answer!!

Ecclesiastes 9:10a (KJV
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. 

I'm linking to.....










 Tuesday Blessings to each of 'ya!!!

In His Most Precious Love....and with mine!!!

17 comments:

  1. Good Morning, Deb!
    This came out so cute! I've been going to try one of these...but just haven't got around to it yet. You've inspired me to try one!
    Have a blessed day!
    Laura

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  2. This is absolutely adorable! The colors are so "in" and the pattern/figures so playful. I can imagine how thrilled Stephanie was.

    I love that verse from Ecclesiastes, too. Our ladies' Sunday School class is studying this book - with help from Warren Wiersbe's book on the same subject....

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  3. That turned out nice. My mom used to try to teach me to sew and quilt, but I could never pick it up.

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  4. This quilt is just too cute. I know that Stephanie and the new baby will enjoy it.
    Love,
    Mis

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  5. I absolutely love this, Deb! Everything about it ~ the colors, the prints... it is perfect.

    I am not a sewing enthusiast, but this looks so very cute I just might tuck the idea away in hope that I could be motivated to make one.

    I enlarged a photo and see that the clipping is perpendicular to the seam. About every quarter of an inch? Did you use small short scissors?

    Your baby quilt is sure to become a treasured "blankie"

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  6. Ms. Deb you did a awesome job on this little baby blanket. You have more talent in one little finger than most do in their whole body.

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  7. Oh my gosh, that is so adorable! I've got to use this technique. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. That's one of the best rag quilts I've ever seen! the colors are great! :)

    ~Kim

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  9. How Cute! I wish that was around when my guy was little!

    Visiting from Everything Etsy

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  10. This is so cute and looks so easy to do. Thanks for the tutorial!

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  11. That is the sweetest baby boy rag quilt I've ever seen! Lovely. :)

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  12. I lvoe my raggy quilts, too! Yours is so precious...it's no wonder she loved it. The colors are fabulous! :)

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  13. It turned out so cute! I made one of these for my nephew and one for my son...ouch! My fingers hurt and my hand was cramped for a week after cutting all those seams!

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  14. Hello Mrs. Deb,
    I found you somewhere in blog land, and I have had this saved under my "crafty" bookmarks for a while, but I am now just daring to attempt it. My third baby will make his way here in June, and I would like to take him home in this. :) My question is, do you backstitch your first "X" or not? Thanks so much!

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  15. Ms. Sheri...I couldn't find another way to contact you, so I HOPE that you will check back here for this comment. Congratulations on having 3 little ones!!! I don't backstitch the first "x" because you're going to sew back over that seam when you sew the squares together. If you have any other questions, just click on my "contact me" page and send me a personal e-mail!!!

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  16. Thank you SO much!! I appreciate your answer and instructions! Whenever I get finished (who knows when... my husband is deploying in a week and won't be back for the birth, so I am a little short on time...) I may just send you a picture. God Bless! :)

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  17. I would love to see your finished product. One suggestion I have which would make the quilt much simpler to make...is to leave out the batting in the center. A friend of mine who is a quilter says that the batting makes the quilt too warm if you back it with the fleece...you only need the batting if the backing is cotton, also!!! I didn't know that, so the little baby I made this one for is probably very, very toasty warm!!! :)

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