I have made a simple raggedy quilt for all three boys and with this little one I was conscious that I may be strapped for time to sew for quite a while after her birth with 4 children to care for, so I decided to get cracking early.
Once upon a time, it seemed perfectly natural to go out and buy beautiful fabric to then cut up and quilt. There is certainly a time and place for that kind of creativeness especially if your budget allows for it, but in this season of our lives, mine simply doesn't.
Over time, I began to think about quilt making from a historical perspective. Originally quilt making emerged from the desire and need to make something useful and practical by utilizing fabric off-cuts and scraps. Pieces that were too small for a bigger purpose so would otherwise sit and go to waste. It was a frugal, necessary and practical task which also happened to be beautiful. With our 'year of less' project and desire to first look for anything we need secondhand, up-cycle or re-purpose this nod to the historical and humble beginnings of quilt making resonated deeply within me. Like many crafters, I have accumulated a lot of material over the years. Some are offcuts from big projects, some are op-shopped or picked up on clearance sales, some has been gifted to me by friends and family. The white fabric with large cottage flowers on it is fabric up-cycled from some vintage pillowcases that used to belong to my grandmother. She passed away when I was 13 and I have been saving them for a special project for many years. This quilt is made up of a combination of fabrics from all kinds of places, projects and people, and I love that about it.
My sewing and making tends to be a lot like the rest of my life. I'm a practical person. I make big hearty simple meals, I bake slabs of cake to feed many and while my home is clean and tidy its certainly not perfectly styled. Although I'm no 'quilter' in the sense of making beautiful, intricate quilts with tiny squares that would win a place at a country show, I can manage a lovely raggedy quilt just fine.
So with that in mind, I rummaged through my fabric stash and put aside a collection of pretty floral fabrics with a theme of green, pink, light blue, dark blue and yellow in mind. I went to the local op-shop and picked up a vintage Australian pure wool blanket for $5 to use as wadding but I couldn't find any flannel sheets in good condition to use for the backing. I decided to check the prices in my local Spotlight and found flannel was on sale for $8/m, so I bought 4m, 2 large spools of Gutermann pink thread and a fresh pack of quilting needles.
This quilt is made up of 49 9"x9" squares. The inner wool blanket wadding is cut 8"x8" which makes a nice size child's rug.
Making a raggedy quilt is the perfect quilt for beginners, or those wanting to whip up a quick unique quilt. If you are interested in dipping your toe into simple quilt making for the first time, I wrote a tutorial here for a raggedy quilt a couple of years ago. Let me know if you have any questions and Ill do my best to help you out. A simple raggedy quilt tutorial
Much love,
Emma
xx
