Rag Quilt ? Part 1 -- Snip blocks before assembling or after?
 

How many of you pre-snip the edges of your blocks BEFORE sewing a rag quilt together?

Not me. Always after.

Not me. I sew first then clip with my Friskars rag snips while watching TV once the quilt is done. I like doing my own clipping because I can do more closely than using an accuquilt.

Seems like the blocks would be much harder to sew together after the snipping is done. I've only made one and I clipped when I was finished sewing.

I have made several rag quilts, but I have never snipped the edges first. It might make them a little harder to sew together. I always snipped after I got all the quilt sewed together. I use Fiskars snip cutter and do it a little at a time because it is hard on my hands. Sometimes DH will help me snip.

Always after. It would be a nightmare to sew if you did it before sewing them.

After,You will have great differculty if you precut them.

i Agree with every one Snip AFTER, it would be to hard to sew if you did it before.

Thank you all so far for your quick responses! You have totally validated my current nightmare -- sewing together pre-snipped blocks. See part 2.

I have the rag die for the Accuquilt Go and I had no issues sewing the squares together. I have read somewhere that the person placed a strip of painters tape on the snipped edges prior to sewing the blocks together. I don't know if it works or not. When I cut my squares, I cut all the components for each block at the same time. I cut the flannel backing, flannel batting (instead of regular batting) and the cotton front all at the same time. That way I didn't have to try and line up all those snips when putting my blocks together.

Thanks for the idea. I used a separate batting piece and had to sandwich them together before "X"ing and that should have been my first clue that keeping all those little tabs straight was not going to be easy! I also think that my flannel is a little heavy for the size of my squares which are only 5 1/4" before assembly. I also prewashed it and that made it very soft and those little tabs are all totally out of control! I will definitely cut the pieces together next time! Thanks!

I had read your other posting and was aware of your troubles! I just don't like the extra trouble of cutting the batting smaller and then trying to put all three layers together and having them play nicely. I like using flannel for the batting layer; it is cut the same size as the outer pieces and helps make the ragging more plush! It is just as warm as using pieces of batting in my opinion.

going to look up Fisksars rag snips.

Would you believe I had the handle on a 2 month old pair of Fiskars break? Right on the end of the metal shaft where it lays inside the handle. And NO I wasn't cutting anything I was supposed to!

Always after sewing together. Then if the snipping is not exactly the same it won't harm your seam allowance.