Square Dance Rag Quilt

I've always wondered how to make a "Rag Quilt" and recently I signed-up to be a "Pattern Tester" for this adorable pattern from Bobbie @ I am Only One Woman  and just fell in love with it!

I was a bit nervous as I had never made a rag quilt and had only recently began my foray into quilting, but I decided to dive right in and give it a try!

Here is the result and I must say I was pleased with the outcome given the fact it was my first rag quilt!

The finished size is 44" x 44" and you can purchase the pattern in Bobbie's Etsy Shop: "A Vision to Remember" here.

If you aren't a sewer or just don't have the time to make one yourself, you are in luck because Bobbie also sells some of her beautiful quilts in her Etsy Store and even takes custom orders!

Here are some more photos of my rag quilt and a collage showing some of the steps involved in making this quilt.

Even though the size of this quilt is closer to a baby or child size quilt, I made it for my sweet Momma for Mother's Day! 

She is very tiny and her legs and feet always get cold when she is sitting on the couch or in her chair watching TV, so I thought it was the perfect size for that and the comfy flannel backing will keep those feet nice and toasty!

I'm hoping when she gets it (I sent it all the way to Texas) someone can take a photo of her with the quilt and I can update my post with her beautiful smile!

Supplies/Tools Used for this project:

Square Dance Rag Quilt Pattern from: A Vision to Remember on Etsy

Various Poly/Cotton Blend Fabrics from JoAnn's (Tutti Fruiti Collection)

Flannel Fabric (For Backing) from JoAnn's (Cozy Flannel Solid, Claret Red, 100% Cotton)

Mettler Metrosene Polyester Thread, #703 Eggshell

Fiskars Rotary Cutter 

Fiskars Micro-Tip Scissors No. 5

Fiskars Spring Assist Micro-Tip Scissors, No. 5

Olfa Cutting Mat, 24" x 36"

Fiskars Cutting Mat, 24" x 18"

Easy Rule II, EZ Quilting by Simplicity, 24" x 6" Acrylic Quilting Ruler

Fiskars, 18" x 2" Acrylic Quilting Ruler

Janome 4120 QDC Sewing Machine

Brother CS-6000i Sewing Machine

Quilting Foot (For Janome Machine & Brother Machine)

Straight Pins, Quilting

Thank-you for stopping by for a visit.

Hope you'll come back soon to see what craft project I am working on next!

This project/post is linked-up to the following sites/link-up parties:

Quilt-Along Challenge - Race Car Quilt

One of my fondest memories of my Maternal Grandmother was the vision of her working away at beautiful quilts on a big wooden frame hanging from the ceiling in her den!

 

I was just amazed at the beautiful fabrics and intricate stitching that went into those creations and I never dreamed that one day I would attempt one myself!

But...that is exactly what I did!

Last year in April and May, Two of my favorite bloggers, Jill from Create Craft Love and Sarah from Becoming Martha hosted a "Quilt-Along" online and when I heard about it...I just had to join in as I felt like it was the perfect opportunity for me to learn this craft while having a "support" group around me to help!

At almost exactly the same time, I discovered an old friend of mine (Debbie) who I used to work with was on Facebook and she was an experienced quilter, so I would have local "hands-on" help as well.

How lucky for me!

This quilt-along was "self-paced" and even though the goal was to try and complete a quilt in a month, most in the group didn't finish in a month, so I didn't feel so bad when mine was no where near being finished after 30 days!

There was no real "deadline" but  Jill and Sarah did provide a "link-up" party at the end of May to show off our creations when we completed them.

I must admit...making my first quilt was truly a "labor" of love...(if I may use a play on words here)...it took me 9 months to complete...like giving birth! Not quite as painful though...thankfully!

Here is the fruit of my labor:

I made the quilt as a gift for my precious Grandson Adrian and I was hoping to have it done by Christmas, but alas that didn't happen, so it will get to him in time for his birthday for sure!

The first week consisted of gathering supplies and tools for the project:

When I was planning my quilt, I knew that my Grandson loved cars, but I wanted to be sure the quilt would be something he'd want to use when he was older also 

(he is only 2 now...almost 3).

For that reason, I picked a car design that was a bit more sophisticated rather than a nursery type design.

The main fabric was from Timeless Treasures and the design was called "Michael #C9865"

Rather than make this post unbearably long...I just made a quick collage of some of the steps I did in making this quilt:

The top stitching on the quilt was too big of a job for me to handle on my first quilt as it could not be done on a small machine and if I had tried to "hand" quilt it...well...my poor Grandson would be a grown man before I ever got it done!  LOL!

So...on the recommendation of my good friend Debbie, I took it to a local long-arm quilter in the area, Michael Schultz, Samish Quilting, who is known for his quality work and he did an amazing job!

I am not a great photographer, but I tried to capture some close-up's of his beautiful work.

He used a stitch pattern that had race cars and racing flags and it was just perfect for this project!

I made a personalized tag for the quilt and it was the first time I had tried applique and embroidering on my machine (Singer Superb 2010) so it didn't turn out  perfect by any means and even though I practiced before I made the final tag...I messed up the alignment on my name!

Of course "Grandma" and "Lisa" should have been on the same line, but at that point I was at the very end and did not want to try and make another tag as this one took me forever, so I let it go as I'm sure my sweet Grandboy won't know the difference or care for that matter.
He will just be happy about the cars!

If you need details on how to make this quilt or a similar one, you can go to the original blog posts from the quilt along by starting here or here.

Also, the pattern that was used for this project was from All People Quilt and can be found here along with directions.

I want to say a very big "Thank-you" to my good friend Debbie for being such a tremendous help on this project and letting me use her awesome Janome sewing machine!

Hope you enjoyed seeing my first quilt and I would love for you to visit my blog again soon!

Thanks!

This post/project is linked-up to the following sites/link-parties:

   

Cricut Covers/Cozies

Last year I won a giveaway on the website Scrapbooking Society.

The giveaway was sponsored by "Kathy's Cozies" and I received a beautiful cozie for my Cricut Expression! 

I wrote a post about it and you can see it here. 

Recently, while setting up my new craft room, I decided that I really wanted some covers for my cricut bug and Cricut Imagine also, so of course I thought of the beautiful Cozie I had received from Kathy last year and went to her Etsy site to see if I could order some matching covers.

 There were not any in her store that matched exactly with the one I had for my expression, but fortunately she offers a "custom" option, where you can choose from a selection of fabrics she has, so I was able to e-mail her my request and she was able to get more of the exact same fabric and make me the two additional Cozies!

Kathy is so talented and does such quality work, check out my video and see the details on how beautiful these cozies turned out!

If you get a chance, check out Kathy's blog and her Etsy store to see all of her beautiful creations!

Thank-You for visiting my blog!