Rag quilt question
 

This is my very first post, but I've been reading for months. Always helpful and encouraging information.

Now I have a question:
Are rag quilts always square blocks? I know the size doesn't matter, but I was wondering about doing a couple Ohio Stars in it. Will it work? Will they show up okay?

Thanks for your help.

I only do squares, small, medium and large.....take the large size, slice it in half width wise and add a seam....
or quarter and add a seam....IMHO anything else would be a waste of time as the raggy edges are the stars....
not the pattern.....if you do a little bit a thinking you can divide and divide which is what I do ....so I can use every little bit of my flannel....and remember IF you are going to rag quilt DO NOT PRE SHRINK....as that is all part of the charm.....do a test run.....

I don't see why not but I wouldn't make them too small, you would probably loose the effect.

my favorite raggy quilt i did strips- sewed 3" strips of fabric together (raggy style) into 15" sections- then turned them this way & that...it is really cool-
then my nephew thought that was cool and took it to a new level & after sewing strips together he cut diamonds- and sewed them together raggy style---then it became a family challenge- my sister did her's with jacob's ladder blocks- because that is her favorite block- my son's girlfriend did star blocks- though i can not remember what (style) of star she did...any thing will work- though fairly large pieces/blocks are probably best...all that clipping can get tedious...:D

With a rag quilt there is quite a bit of fabric in the seams (at least 2 layers are stitched together, as opposed to the normal one layer in a quilt top). Because of that, most rag quilts are made with squares and rectangles, with an occasional HST thrown in. You could certainly make Ohio stars in your quilt, but you might have trouble with all the layers that you have to sew through in the intersections.

I never sew with flannel that hasn't been pre-washed, because it shrinks unevenly in each direction, and flannel is notorious for bleeding. I use flannel as all 3 layers of the rag quilt so I don't have to cut separate batting pieces, and there is more fabric to rag. I also like to mix in some corduroy for a different texture.

Here's a tutorial for making a hexagon rag table runner. It could easily be made into a quilt http://thecraftpatch.blogspot.com/20...ing-table.html

Here's HST rag quilt http://www.favequilts.com/Quilts-For...ngle-Rag-Quilt

Cathedral Window rag quilt http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpa...ndow_quilt.htm

and here is a pattern for sale for a Denim Circle rag quilt which is in essence a cathedral window http://www.etsy.com/listing/91545667...rcle-rag-quilt

I just made one today. Cotton for the front and back and flannel in between. Eight inch squares...and i never prewash. I think the shrinage adds to the finished product! I'd recommend washing and drying twice to get most of the fraying over with. I think something other than squares would be fun to try. Go for it!

I did one with a heart in the center......but it was just squares and HST.

I'm working on one now with HST's. Never tried stars though.

My first rag quilt was an owl and 2nd one is butterfly, pattern was bought off Ebay.

You can always try. At the last quilt show here there was a rag quilt shaped like a turtle. It was really nice. If nothing else, there isn't anything that says you couldn't have a couple blocks that weren't rag squares or you could make the star and the fabric surrounding it would be rag. So the star it self wouldn' be ragged but the block it was in would be. I hope that makes since.

I did a double Irish chain then rag quilted it. On some of the blocks, I simply straight-lined quilted while on the alternate blocks, I did a fancy quilting pattern to hold the blocks together. I put the raggy edge on the "back" which was flannel so when face-up, you don't know it's raggy and it looks like a regular Irish chain. And, vice versa. My DD tends to prefer the flannel side up and since it's on her bed, it's her choice.

I would tend to make the Ohio Star on just the top fabric of the square/diamond/ or whatever background shape you want. I would sew it as an applique but not let some of the edge of the star piece overhang so that the edges could be ragged. That way the ragged edges wouldn't be so large as to overwhelm the Ohio Star;

ali