Rag quilt question
 

Must rag quilts be made from flannel?

No, but a loosely woven fabric like flannel or homespun will fray (rag) the most. You can use quilting cotton, which will fray some. Some even use a minkee or fleece type fabric, which won't fray, but the clipped edges will curl a bit.

You can use homespun and I have seen denim used also. Most common is flannel because of the way it frayes wham washed. This is what gives a rag quilt the look you want. Regular quilting cotton will not fray as well

I like to use flannel but I also like to do a cotton for the top and a flannel on the bottom-especially for kids I spy. I find that they still rag well.

I often use flannel with a few squares in corduroy.

Depending on how warm I want the quilt to be, I usually do mine with cotton squares for the top and then flannel for the other 2 or 3 layers.

You can even do them with fleece. While it doesn't fray it does curl and gives a great effect without the possibilities of threads being pulled out by little ones. Jeans are also really nice for them. I even seen one made from felt that hung on the wall, it didn't fray either but had great effect on the wall.

No, you can use anything you want but keep in mind that flannel is the only fabric that gives those curling edges.

My avatar is a rag quilt made with 100 percent cotton quilting fabric. I maybe wish now I had used flannel because it would "rag" more but I was satisfied with the result.