My newest adventure has been creating a rag quilt. A few weeks ago I decided I'd be proactive and go get a quilt for football season. You see, when the Wells family goes to a Texas Tech football game (and we go to all of them), you stay.
You stay the whole time.
Even in rain or snow. So off I went in search of my next football preseason purchase. Holy cow! I found a super cute quilted throw at a bookstore. Guess how much it cost? $119! I was floored. I have to have a cute blanket...but I'm pretty sure Travis would kill me if my cute blanket cost that much. Next option. A very cheaply made "throw." I use the term lightly because it was falling apart and stiff as a board.
Ok. Enough. Time to make my own. I've seen a few rag quilts around blogland--mainly for baby blankets. But what about for a tailgating blanket for a grown woman? There are quite a few 80's reminiscent results if you google rag quilts. There are also a couple that look promising. I figured I'd give it a try. Couldn't be that bad, right?
So stinkin' cute.
Here was the first stage. Laying hundreds of pieces all over my kitchen table. To make sure it looks good, of course. I ended up using regular cotton fabric for the front and flannel for the backing. I wanted a heavier/warmer quilt than cotton-only. The flannel also frays quite nicely. I ended up spending maybe $50 which included all the material, thread, a new rotary cutter, and a pair of "rag quilting" scissors.
Then began the sewing. Oh my the sewing. Lots of red thread later I had a quilt that didn't look very rag-like.
After clipping all the edges and washing/drying a couple of times, I ended up with this little lovely.
My only tip in addition to all those out there in blogland is to shake off your quilt outside after washing but before drying. This took off a lot of those little strings that "fray" in the wash. Saved my dryer.
