Rag quilt question?
 

I am making a rag quilt for my son and the rag quilts I have made in the past I used cotton,batting and flannel. This time I am using cotton and two layers of flannel and no batting. I did not put an x in the middle , some where I read if you have two layers of flannel together it will hold without the x. Now I am second guessing myself. Will this hold without the x?

I just finished a rag quilt with the X in the center of each block. My blocks finished at 7.5". Two trips through the machine (first one at the Laundromat because of lint) and it came out beautifully. Only wished I'd gone around the outside edges twice to really secure the edges. You should be just fine with only an X.

I just finished two rag quilts for a one year old and a newborn. My blocks started out 5" but with 1/2" seam they ended up 4". I put an X in each block anyway for security, and so they wouldn't look 'unfinished'. I've always heard that rag quilts have an X in each block. I love the way they turned out. Only have a pic of the first one because the second one hasn't been washed and frayed yet. I love rag quilts!!!

The quilting is to keep the stuff in the middle (batting) from moving around and clumping up. If your center flannel goes all the way to the edges - that is, you are sewing through it on all sides and it is part of the ragging - then it is already secure and will not clump. Then you do not need to do any quilting, so no X's.

I have made a few with denim on one side and flannel on the other with no batting and no Xs. I haven't had any problems with them and they look fine.

I agree with Dunster. When you use batting, it is cut smaller then the block and may not get caught in the seams. This is the reason you need the X thru it.

My avatar is my first attempt at a rag quilt. I used 5 1/2 inch squares with 5 inch flannel "batting" with an X.. I am very happy with it, as is my grandson.

...X keeps it from clumping later... But you can also do a circle, star, or whatever..

There is no rule that the quilting/sewing inside of each block has to be an X. If it is the X that is bothering you then do something else, maybe something whimsical. You might want to go around the inside seams of each block then to secure the batting.

If both layers of flannel are sewn into the edges, I see no problem without having any quilting in the center of each block. If the center layer of flannel is cut smaller, I would think you would want something.