How to Make a Ragtime Quilt

A ragtime quilt is a project for new and experienced quilters alike. The quilt is made of pieced squares of fabric with the edges left raw and visible on the outside of the quilt for a "raggedy" effect. The combination of different fabric colors and patterns makes the quilt customizable. Because it is made with individual squares of top fabric, batting and backing fabric it is a good way to use up scraps of batting. This pattern makes a queen bed-size quilt, but the method can easily be adapted for different sizes.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 80 9 inch squares of batting
• 20 10 inch squares of eight different cotton fabrics (use different colors and/or patterns)
• Straight pins
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• Scissors

Sewing a Ragtime Quilt

1. Lay out the quilt top to decide the position of the different squares of fabric. Lay out a grid of 8 squares horizontally by 10 squares vertically for the front and for the back and rearrange them until you are happy with your pattern.

2. Take a digital photograph or draw a diagram of the squares' arrangement so you can remember how to reassemble the quilt top.

3. Take each matching front and back square of fabric and make a sandwich with a square of batting as the filling with the wrong sides of fabric on the inside). Pin each sandwiched square together.

4. Check the stitch tension on a scrap piece first to make sure the stitches are even through all three layers, then sew an X shape from corner to corner on each sandwich using a walking foot on your sewing machine.

5. Refer to your photo or diagram to put the sewn squares back into their finished position, then take one horizontal row at a time to the sewing machine.

6. Sew the eight squares of each horizontal row together in a strip by placing the right sides of two squares at a time together and sewing a line of stitches along one side, leaving a 1 inch seam allowance. The raw edges will be visible on the front of the finished quilt.

7. When the 10 horizontal rows have been pieced together, sew them together horizontally to form the finished quilt.

8. Sew a line of straight stitches around the outside perimeter of the quilt leaving a 1 inch seam allowance.

9. Using sharp scissors, make short straight snips into the seam allowances on the front of the quilt. Be careful not to snip any stitching. Wash the quilt several times to fray the raw fabric edges and increase the "raggediness" of the quilt.

Tips & Warnings

• You could use other quilting motifs instead of a simple X shape, but be sure to keep them inside the 1 inch seam allowance along the four sides of each square. The more you wash the quilt, the more the edges will fray, enhancing the ragged look. You can make a quilt from more, smaller squares or fewer, larger squares of fabric. You could also combine larger squares with blocks of 4 smaller squares made up to the same size. This project is good for using small scraps.

References

• Ragtime Quilt Instructions
• Quick and Easy Scrap Quilts; Patricia Wilens; 2001