Hi Ladies (with all the answers)
I am making some rag quilts for high school seniors. I have a general knowledge and a plan, but wonder how large a square I can make without having to put an "X" in each square before sewing them together. Thanks for your always wise advice. Love this quilting board!!!!

Are you going to make it raggedy on both sides? I am in the process of making a rag quilt but I have made a few rag purses and a diaper bag. I do not want the inside to be raggedy on the purses so I sew the squares for the front together and then cut out the same size piece of material for the inside and then quilt them together. I find this saves a lot of time. If you did want both sides raggedy could you sew two exactly same size sides and then put them together and then quilt them instead of quilting each square before sewing it? I don't even know if that would work. I know I haven't answered your question but I hopefully maybe gave an idea. LOL

Thanks for being there. I am ready to cut out material for the first of four quilts. They need to be done by June 1 so time is important. I am making them smooth on one side so I will cut all three layers the same size. I just wondered how big I could make the squares without taking the extra time to make the "X" to secure the three layers of each block. (Never tried to make a purse, sounds interesting --- after June.)

I have never done one, but maybe 5" squares would be about as big as you'd want to go w/out doing the "x". I am no expert, just offering my opinion, some might say that I have too many opinions on too many things. LOL Let us see them if you get a chance to take pictures, and good luck!

http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpatternsprojects/ss/rag_quilt.htm

This might help.

Hi, I just sent a picture of my first rag quilt. I cut these 7"..all layers
are 7". I used a med weight flannel , for the middle layer, that I found at walmart.(amoung all the flowers where they should have bolts) There was no need to sew an x on each square. this was great for me as I like to speed through most of my projects. I've washed it twice and it looks great. I do advise to doube stitch at each joining seam ,only, Just for extra precaution. I cut my 7" square from a file folder as my pattern. After cutting all the top and bottom layers, the square was a little smaller, I then cut the flannel with it and it worked out great, not to much excess with the flannel.

oops, I forgot to say, after careful consideration,.....I wanted the quilt to be big enough the first time....I tried different seam allowances....the 1/2"
seam allowance , for me, seemed to work best, and of course, made the quilt bigger, with out adding extra squares.

Thanks ladies, I know we have talked about rag quilts many times so I appreciate that you even looked at the subject. Catherine, your quilt is beautiful and I also love the colors. Thank you for the info and I am now off to cut my fabric. Thanks again and have a great day!

I am, more than likely going to use flannel for my rag quilt, the middle layer. However, for some of my purses I used fleece, for the middle layer, which held up really well. I still quilted it but that is just because I wanted a certain look, but you could easily use flannel or fleece and not have to quilt it. :D