Question about rag quilts
 

I have been making some baby rag quilts; top is quilting cotton, bottom is flannel. They go together quickly but clipping the seams is a pain. If I use pinking shears, will the seams fray as nicely (or almost) as with clipping? Thank you for any input!

Pinking is usually done to prevent fraying. Its easier to clip each row as you put it together rather than waiting til the end and doing it all at once.

No. Clipping makes a deeper cut than pinking shears. AND, unless you have really good shears, such as Ginghers, your hands will be really sore even sooner than with the clipping. You might try a pair of scissors that have a spring opening to help make the task easier. Joannes carries these.

Here are some on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...sl_c4mzha4xs_b

Jan in VA

use spring loaded scissors. Fiscars has one orange and gray. love them!!!

If you'd happen to have an Accuquilt cutter, they have some dies in different sizes that cut them already "snipped". I have the 8 in die and hope to get to use it soon!

I also use a spring-loaded pair of scissors. They are not heavy and easy to use. Pinking will not give you the same result.

JoAnn's sells rag quilt snips. They are AMAZING!!!! They are spring loaded as someone else suggested and saved my hand muscles. I snip after everything is sewn. I leave the quilt on my ironing board and tell myself "I'll just snip a square or 2 every time I walk by." Usually end up snipping a whole row. I save the snipping of the outer edge for last as it's only 2 layers vs 4. I like to snip the 'intersections' first as they can be the most troublesome.

They really are an amazing tool!!! I went out and bought quite a few when I found them. My children saw me 'having fun' and wanted to help snip too. With all my extra snips, they could join me. The only thing I asked them was to tell me if they snipped through any stitching. It's a lot easier to fix prior to washing than after. I assured them that even mama snipped through the stitching from time to time and I'd rather them help and tell me, than not help at all!

The rag quilt spring loaded scissors are the greatest. I could not do a quilt without them. Good investment.

If you have a Harbor Freight nearby, they worked well http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-...ors-97042.html. I picked up a pair to snip three 45x60 rag quilts. Two of the quilts were two layers of flannel and one layer of denim. The serrated edge grips the fabric so no slip sliding around and the edge stays sharp. They are studier than I expected. They are go to pair when cutting heavy fabrics.

Tell me. I FMQ'd some squares intending to make a raggy, said to heck with it. Squared the blocks, zig-zagged blocks together, and put folded tape over front and back. Thanks to glue, a whole heckuva lot easier on my hands and temper.

I was making rag quilts using blue jeans so purchased the clipping scissors with a spring on them to make it easier to clip. The blade is about the length you usually make the seams so keeps you from clipping to close. Haven't used them since I made those 1st 2 huge quilts but there's one coming up for me.

My DH took a nice pair of Fiskar scissors and cut the blades off to about 2" long and then he brought them to a smooth straight edge on the end. (He is an Engineer) He says that the shorter the blade, the more pressure is applied by the blades. They work just fine and my hands are not as tired as they used to be.

I use Rag Quilt scissors and the spring loaded ones. I find if I set out several different pairs and keep trading, it is easier on my hand.

I use the Fiskar scissors for rag quilts too. The smaller ones work best for me as I have more control.

The scissors with the springs are definitely a big help. Better yet get two pair. Get your husband or a friend to help with the snipping. I lay the quilt on the table, then my husband starts on the left edge and I start in the middle. We move left to right. When one row is done we pull the quilt forward and start on the second row and so on. Also if you have an Accuquilt machine you can buy a die to cut 5 inch squares already snipped. We've made about 45 raggy quilts using 3_layers of flannel.

Try using your kitchen shears. Mine have a serated edge and grip the fabrics well.