Five Raggy Quilts

   
     About ten years ago (I can't believe it's been that long!), I went through a phase where I was making rag quilts like crazy.  I had little ones at the time and I found the traditional denim rag quilts too heavy and stiff for babies.  So, I tried to come up with an alternative.

     I started out making simple rag quilts with just one layer of denim, no batting or backing.

Baby Rag - finished January 2012

     I made at least half a dozen of these one-layer denim quilts.  But the problem I had with these was that denim by itself can be cold.  So I tried other materials like fleece.  I started by cutting up the fleece and piecing the blankets as you would a normal rag quilt.  Of course, fleece doesn't fray like denim, but it was still a cozy quilt.

Flutterby - finished June 2011

     Further experimentation prompted me to make the top as you would a normal rag quilt and then sew the top onto a backing of fleece.  The seams weren't at all fluffy, but there was a bit of raggy texture to play with.

Pink Safari - finished May 2012

     Even though I wasn't happy with the seams in that quilt, I really liked the flop and feel of the blanket as a whole.  So, I kept making them.

Monkey Business - finished March 2011

     I don't make these blankets anymore, though, because over time I kept experimenting and stumbled upon a technique that I like better.  For newer babies, I ended up working away from rag quilts all together.  I'll show you what I came up with sometime in a future post.

Mellow Yellow - finished November 2011

     As I was looking over these photos, I kept thinking back to how little and energetic my kiddos were.  There were times I didn't think I'd make it through the day with sanity intact because of all the noise and chaos.  But, focusing on small projects like this and finishing them (when nothing else was ever finished, like cooking, dishes, laundry. . . ) was the help I needed to stay motivated and to keep trudging through the commotion.  I enjoyed every minute with my babies, but I thought those exhausting days would never end.  And then one day I realized that things had changed.  It's a different kind of chaos now. 😏

     That's all, folks.  Keep trudging along and have a great day!