Recently I have been on a baby blanket making spree, and my new favorite is this “3 Hour Rag Quilt”. I love it because it’s so simple, it’s soft, it’s cute, and it only takes 3 hours.
Supplies *contains affiliate links*:
-A piece of batting that is 40.5″ x 42″
-1.5 yards flannel
-1.5 yards coordinating flannel.
Start off by using a rotary cutter and a self healing mat to cut nine strips of batting into 4.5″ wide strips. It will need to be the length of your coordinating fabric, probably about 42″.
Then cut your flannel into 9 strips that are 6″ wide.
Take your 1.5 yards of coordinating flannel and cut it into nine 6″ wide strips.
Then make a sandwich of your two flannels (pattern side out) with the batting in the middle.
Find a pretty stitch you like (or a straight stitch) and run a line all the way down your fabric sandwich. I hate pinning things so I just hold the sandwich together while I run the line. I liked this curved/zig zag stitch for this quilt. Do this to all nine of your sandwiches.
Then stack together two sandwiches with the prints facing the same direction (for example on mine it’s flowers up, swirls down). Then using a straight stitch sew them together with about 3/4″ seam allowance. For this part I try to ensure that the batting does not show outside of the stitch.
Continue to do this opening your quilt after every seam and continuing to place the patterns facing the same way until you have sewn all nine strips together.
Then using your rotary cutter and cutting mat, cut a straight edge around the entire quilt to clean up the edges. Then sew a seam all the way around the blanket with a 3/4″ seam allowance. When you are done one side will have all of the seams on it and the other will look like a finished quilt.
Then take your good sharp scissors and make tiny cuts along all of the open seams. Be careful not to cut through the stitching. For this part fold the quilt so that the seam is out and you do not have to use the tips of your scissors but you can hold the scissors closer to the fabric without worrying about cutting the blanket.
If you make this quilt with nine 6″ strips the finished product is about 38″ wide by 43″ long.
After cutting it still will not have the fuzzy curled up “rag” look until you wash it. I have been warned that it leaves a lot of thread in the washing machine and has been known to clog washing machines and flood laundry rooms. So… I always do the initial wash and dry at the laundry mat. I figure the $5 of quarters is not worth risking it over.
Fold it up, tie it with a bow, and send it off to a friend for her new baby girl! To see another rag quilt with some additional tips head to this post here. To learn how to make a rag strip doll quilt head here.
**4/6/15 Update** Many people have asked if you need a unique sewing machine to sew through the thick layers of the flannel and batting. You don’t, but if you’re unhappy with your machine I am in LOVE with mine. After three years together I am still in love with my affordable Brother machine!
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Jenn Grimm says
January 11, 2013 at 11:57 pmCute!!! I like it!!!
Jess says
June 8, 2014 at 4:24 amI’ve used cotton as one of the fabrics, alternating it with flannel, and it turned out great. It is the flannel that curls up to give it the “rag” feel so I think if you used all cotton you wouldn’t get that. Using just one fabric as cotton though gives the option for more pattern choices!
Peggy says
November 11, 2014 at 8:12 pmBy flannel do,you mean flannel, as in a thin material, or fleece as in the thicker material. Thanks.
BrightGreenDoor says
November 13, 2014 at 4:00 pmYes Flannel, not fleece. I don’t know if it would curl up properly.
kat.warn says
January 27, 2016 at 5:51 amHI, I used the cuddle type printed flannel on one panel and the solid flannel and I always sewed on the cuddle flannel as it is firmer and doesn’t wiggle or bunch.
BrightGreenDoor says
June 11, 2017 at 8:50 pmI haven’t done all the calculations, but as long as you had flannel strips that were long enough it could easily be a full size quilt. Otherwise you could sew pieces together to get the length.
Darlene Saltarelli Stavas says
December 1, 2014 at 10:38 amI use cotton and jeans to make these rag quilts all the time. You get a niced frayed edge instead of curled. I like the look. I just make sure that I’m using 100 percent cotton, wool and other natural fibers that easily fray….then a use a heavy duty stitch so that the fraying will stop at the stitch. Also I do not “sip” the edges and it always looks great.
Jan says
November 14, 2017 at 4:13 pmYes I just thought it was more cuddles with flannel
Lori H says
August 11, 2013 at 10:06 pmmy next project!
Jessica McGurn says
August 13, 2013 at 4:23 amIt should be mine too! I ordered a ton of flannel that’s just waiting to be made into blankets. Time to get busy! Thanks for stopping by.
Grammy says
November 2, 2013 at 11:28 amThis is just what I was looking for!!! Grandson’s birthday in 14 days! Thank you
Jessica McGurn says
November 3, 2013 at 9:20 pmAwesome! It is so simple you can definitely get it done by then! Enjoy his birthday!
Wendy Klik says
November 11, 2013 at 3:30 pmI think I will try this. Thanks.
Kandi Fania says
November 12, 2013 at 10:44 pmI’m a special education teacher. I’m making one of these for each of my students and pairing it with a good book on their reading level as an end of the year gift.
Jess McGurn says
March 10, 2014 at 8:19 pmThey are so fun and adorable! About 38″ wide by 43″ long.
Cynthia Weeks says
April 18, 2014 at 4:47 pmThank you so much for this tutorial! I am a beginner and this is a perfect project for me.
CurlyGirlMom says
April 18, 2014 at 7:34 pmGREAT, easy, quick gift idea. Something I can never have enough of! (And I happen to have a stash of FABULOUS baby flannel, so guess what I’m going to go make? 🙂 Thanks again!
Baye says
May 8, 2014 at 11:26 amAn idea for washing: Maybe if you put the quilt in a mesh bag for washing, it would keep all the resulting threads from mucking up the machine. Might even be worth making the mesh bag if you don’t have one large enough on hand.
Jess says
August 18, 2014 at 1:52 pmAbout 38″ wide by 43″ long. That is with a 1/2″ seam allowance. You can always make it longer by adding additional strips though!
Jess says
August 20, 2014 at 2:25 pmThanks so much for commenting! Hopefully it’s super helpful. They are my favorite kind of blanket to make! I hope you’ll love it as much as I do!
Kaytea says
September 24, 2014 at 8:18 pmI’m a newbie so excuse the ‘stupid’ question. This project calls for 1.5 yards of each fabric? Thank you for the tutorial and the help 🙂
BrightGreenDoor says
September 27, 2014 at 6:57 pmYes, 1.5 yes of each because that is the front and the “backing”.
Paula says
October 2, 2014 at 7:22 amI’ve been told with flannel, you should pre wash it before using it, so when it it’s washed the project isn’t ruined buy shrinkage or bunching. So did you pure wash before the quilt or wash after the quilt made?
Very cute idea, the babies in the family coming up.
Jenifer says
October 26, 2014 at 5:06 amI have made several rag quilts and have never pre washed the fabric—never had a problem
Coral Jean Warren says
October 8, 2014 at 9:23 amI wrote a comment earlier but now can’t find it here to see the reply. My question was how wide each strip of batting should be. I felt it probably should be less than the width of the fabric strips. Thanks, Coral Jean Warren
BrightGreenDoor says
October 9, 2014 at 4:42 pmI make the batting strips an inch skinnier than the quilt strips. That way with a 1/2 inch seam allowance it doesn’t show!
Coral Jean Warren says
October 11, 2014 at 7:13 amThanks you. That makes sense to me.
Joan says
October 8, 2014 at 4:35 pmWould the edges fray naturally if you didn’t actually snip them?
Timi Higdon says
October 11, 2014 at 6:54 pmI have a question about after you have seen strips sewn together…you say make tiny cut along the seams. I am assuming this means making vertical tiny cuts all along the length of the seams? This aids in the unraveling of these seams on the top side of the quilt when you wash the quilt.
I also really love the ingenuity of puting the batting in each strip and holding it together and thus finishing the quilt immediately without having to have an intricate quilting machine or hand quilting!
BrightGreenDoor says
October 13, 2014 at 9:52 amYes, tiny vertical cuts that go right up to the seam, but not through it. It makes it curl right up to the seam after it is washed. Isn’t it a neat simple way to make a quilt! I really love quilts but HATE hand quilting so this is one of my go-to’s!
Timi Higdon says
October 13, 2014 at 9:17 pmI agree! I avoid hand quilting at all cost! I have seen quilts made like you have told us in your wonderful pattern, but didn’t know how to get the cool ravel like you have. I can’t wait to try this! One of the other Grandma’s made a quilt like this using corduroy, she made it with squares…but I never knew the details until now! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I sew lots and have never really had the need for a fancy sewing machine, as long as I could do a straight stitch and a zig-zag…I was set! I make costumes and play dresses and cos-play for my granddaughters. I’m always making blankets and haven’t made many quilts lately, because as you said-hand quilting! Now I have a cool way to put back my love of quilting in my repitoy. I also crochet amigrurumi animals and everything else. My great nephews and grandkids love the animals. So thank you for sharing your lovely skills!
Kristin says
October 13, 2014 at 1:59 pmThank you for posting this tutorial. I just finished making a blanket for my son and it is super cute. I do have a question though. I’m a new to sewing, so please excuse this question – After I sewed my rows together, I noticed that the rows weren’t event and cut around the edges to even them up, like you said above. However, you mentioned “be careful not to cut through the stitching”….well, I did. I didn’t really think about this until after I had finished sewing the outside edge of the blanket. Now the seams holding the rows together seems to be coming undone. What should I do? Will the outside seam keep the seam holding the rows together from continuing to come undone or do I need to rip out the outside seam and re-sew the rows together? I can’t find any help on this online, so any advice you have is much appreciated!
BrightGreenDoor says
October 14, 2014 at 8:43 amAfter I cut the edges off around the perimeter, I sew once around the entire perimeter and that has always held mine together. Let me know if that makes sense!
Kim says
November 9, 2014 at 11:07 pmWith the holidays coming this is such an easy way to make some “lap” rag quilts for special Christmas gifts…. Thank you for posting this it’s amazing…. If you have any ideas for the bigger square block rag quilts to help me understand better that would be much appreciated…. Thanks again!
Mikie says
November 23, 2014 at 3:43 amI was wondering what the measurements would be for a lap quilt. I new at this and what to make sure I make it right. I would like to make it about 60×70.
BrightGreenDoor says
November 24, 2014 at 1:13 pmIf you make the quilt with nine 6″ strips it will be about 38″ wide by 43″ long. To make it 60″ wide you will need to cut your strips vertically from fabric that is in 2 yard lengths.
Kaitlin says
November 29, 2014 at 8:20 amAbout to try this today with some Black Friday fabric, did you use clear thread? Thanks for this tutorial, I’m excited to see how it goes!
BrightGreenDoor says
November 29, 2014 at 8:34 pmI usually just use a color that coordinates with the fabric. Sometimes I even do a zig-zag stitch for some added design. Glad you got a good deal on fabric!
Colleen Hogan Zimmerman says
December 2, 2014 at 11:07 amI know you sew a seam down the middle of your strips but what keeps the edges of the batting from becoming lumpy from use and washing’s since it’s not sewn in the edge seams?
BrightGreenDoor says
December 3, 2014 at 4:33 pmBecause the batting strip is thinner than the flannel when you stitch together your strips the batting is held in place. You don’t want your batting sticking out where the cut/curled flannel part is.
carriesjourney says
December 9, 2014 at 12:46 pmI actually do this and use a “third” piece of flannel as the “batting”
BrightGreenDoor says
December 10, 2014 at 8:56 amI love that idea because then I wouldn’t have to worry about the batting not peeking out! Thanks!
Mary Sue Osborn says
December 14, 2014 at 1:18 pmI have made two baby rag quilts and I have a real problem getting the lint off the finished quilt after washing. Is there a simple way to prevent so much lint. The last one I did last evening I ran through 4 extra rinses to try to cut down on the lint. I still had to work to get the quilt to look presentable. I have sink that my washer empties into and I keep a lint catcher in the drain. I clean out the lint as the rag quilt washes and empties. I have another quilt that I am ready to make but it has two darker squares and I am really anxious about the lint they will pick up.
Judy says
January 4, 2015 at 6:59 pmI know this is late but will be here for the next person with the same problem. I use a lint cloth or roller and it quickly picks up the lint and threads on the darker colors. I made a rag quilt the looked like the American flag.
Mary Sue Osborn says
December 14, 2014 at 1:20 pmthis is a great tutorial. I love these quilts but have problems with the amount of lint on the finished quilt.
SCNonni says
February 3, 2015 at 12:26 pmThanks for sharing this rag quilt iand tutorial ☺Beautiful…
sarah says
March 9, 2015 at 8:11 amGreat tutorial. I LOVE making rag quilts and have done two of the strip quilts and quite a few square rag quilts. It’s definitely a heavier quilt if you use the batting which I’ve done with quite a few of mine. However, especially if you’d like to use cotton on top…I use a layer of flannel in the middle instead of batting. It gives you the fluffy ragged edges x3 if you use all flannel and if you want to use cotton on top you don’t lose the fluffy edges. It’s still a warm blanket, but can be used during all seasons as it’s not quite as heavy. Love the tutorial! We would probably be great friends as your intro sounds like I wrote it for myself 🙂
BrightGreenDoor says
March 10, 2015 at 9:00 amThanks, thats a great idea, then I wouldn’t have to worry about the batting poking out from edges. Thanks for stopping by!
Becca says
May 30, 2015 at 9:17 pmSo, I’ve made rag quilts before and loved them…tell me how far are your clips spaced…they appear to be quite close… I’ve usually made mine 1/2 -5/8″.
BrightGreenDoor says
June 1, 2015 at 10:07 amI’d say mine are only about 1/4″ apart.
BrightGreenDoor says
September 7, 2015 at 2:44 pmThanks so much for stopping by!
Bonnie says
October 24, 2015 at 7:29 pmHow do you clip in the corners?
BrightGreenDoor says
October 25, 2015 at 12:58 amJust at an angle going around so that you don’t lose them.
Mikayla Cooper says
November 27, 2015 at 2:22 pmJust spent over a hundred fifty dollars to get nursery fabric and it looks like its starting to fray pretty easy, so just putting it out there?
BrightGreenDoor says
November 29, 2015 at 6:16 pmOh no! I’ve made tons of these that have lasted years and years. Typically I don’t fully machine dry. What a bummer.
Sara says
March 14, 2016 at 11:22 pmHi there! I love this tutorial. Mine took me a few days and is just now in the wash. My question is, when you sew all the way around the borders, what do you do about sewing through the strips that will be snipped on the front of the quilt? I sewed with them folded down (not spread apart) and snipped around. I’m not even sure how to describe it fully so I may take a photo once it’s dry. I’m not sure I did that area correctly.
I also had to go back and sew over the ends of the middle strip stitches to make sure they don’t unravel because my back stitching got cut off when I trimmed the edges to make straight. Hopefully it will look alright and I will know what better to do with the next one I make. =)
BrightGreenDoor says
March 17, 2016 at 7:49 amI’m sorry but I don’t understand, when I sew all the way around I just run a stitch all of the way around the outside, and then clip around all of the outer edge. I know what you mean about the back-stitching getting cut off. I guess I just hoped that the outer stitching would lock those in, but what you did will guarantee that it will hold together.
Sara says
March 24, 2016 at 12:05 amThank you for the response! I will try to explain what I mean better. On the front of the quilt where there are exposed edges that will be snipped to make the ragging effect, the edges of the “sandwiches” – when I did the finishing seam all the way around, i wasn’t sure whether or not to press that open, but figured that would look funny so where those sandwich edges are on the front, I sewed the outer edge through them with them flat. I snipped those sandwich edges on either side of the outer border edge. It looked a little odd at first as where the border stitch runs through those, there is a piece at the end of each sandwich that is sewn down, but the rest is ragged. Now that it is washed, it’s not as noticeable, but I wasn’t sure if I should have snipped all the way to the edge like that on each sandwich across the front of the quilt. Does that make sense??
I also have a new question. I had bought three yards each of four different fabrics to make four blankets. So with each 3 yards I should be able to get 18, 6″ strips right? I cut what I needed to make the first one and then made the blanket. Long story short, after cutting the rest into strips, I am short two strips. For each 3 yard piece, it is off by at least 4″. I ordered from JoAnn online, and while I think it may be them shorting me as most of it was cut pretty jagged, my question is: When you use 1 1/2 yards of fabric plus 1 1/2 of a coordinating fabric, is your measurement before or after washing? I am wondering if my fabric shrunk that much that it is throwing me off. I dried on low. I wonder if I should not wash my flannel ahead of time for this. Just frustrating because I am short a sandwich per blanket for two out of four blankets. Thank you in advance!
Heather says
September 25, 2017 at 8:38 pmI square up fabrics before cutting them out, also, I stitch TWICE around entire quilt, have never had a problem, also, if making square blocks, I start in at corner of batting, (not at edge) and sew each block with a locking stitch at beginning X this holds the layers together, makes it easier to snip around where blocks join together.
Mary Plumb says
April 28, 2016 at 8:11 pmI like the idea of the zig-zag stitch in the middle of your sandwich pieces. I just do it the hard way and stitch all the layers together at the same time when I assemble the quilt. I also have been cutting the batting the same size as the top and bottom pieces. I was looking for ideas to simplify a new big quilt that I will be working on that will be made of fleece, flannel and batting, with a cotton binding. I will be making the batting smaller. I love the way the binding neatens up the look of the quilt and makes it feel sturdier. Thank your for your ideas, I like to save time too.
Annette says
July 20, 2016 at 9:27 pmBeautiful quilt. Does washing it give it the frayed look? It sort of looks like the exposed edges have a finished stitch on them, or is it an illusion? Can it be made bigger? Say for an adult instead of a baby quilt?
BrightGreenDoor says
July 24, 2016 at 9:18 pmThank you so much. Yes once it’s washed that’s how it gets the frayed look. I’m not certain I understand what you’re asking, but the only finished stitch is the once around the outer edge before cutting the outside edges. It could definitely be made bigger, but you’d need a wide flannel or to piece two together.
Annette says
July 20, 2016 at 9:31 pmI also forgot to ask….. what type of batting did you use?
Do you have other quilt designs? You are truly talented.
BrightGreenDoor says
July 24, 2016 at 9:16 pmAw thank you so much! This is really the only one I’ve blogged about. I made two twin size chevron quilts, but I never shared a tutorial because I was figuring it out as I went. I used warm and natural batting.
Tina Shafer says
December 25, 2016 at 2:27 pmInstead of the batting I use another coordinating flannel fabric and it gives it more fluff in the ragging of the seam and you make borders with the color you choose. Just another way to play with the overall look.especially if you don’t need something as heavy. The blanket was beautiful by the way!
Sandy T. says
January 6, 2017 at 8:49 amJust found your tutorial on Pinterest! I want to make some of these but I have a question. I’ve got some “ugly” flannel fabric in my stash that I have had forever – is there any reason why I couldn’t cut them smaller than my fabric pieces (like you did with the batting) so that it wouldn’t show in the finished product? I hate to go buy white flannel when I have some that I can already cut up and use. Thanks so much, I’m looking forward to making this!
BrightGreenDoor says
January 6, 2017 at 10:35 amI think this would absolutely work. I would probably go with it a few layers thick in the middle, but this sounds like a great cost effective solution. Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment!
Sandra says
January 21, 2017 at 5:10 pmOsnaburg fabric (and it cost less than most flannel) sandwiched between the two outer layers works great – cut it the same size as the strips, snip all 3 layers and when you wash the quilt – it frays very nicely for a full fluffy look.
BrightGreenDoor says
January 21, 2017 at 6:12 pmThat’s a great idea! Thanks for the tip! Next time maybe I’ll try it!
Cathy Turner says
January 28, 2017 at 12:59 amI use Minky for the backing. Looks wonderful when finished. I’ve used it with both cotton and flannel. Turns out great
BrightGreenDoor says
January 29, 2017 at 7:31 pmThat probably makes it so soft! I’ve done cotton and flannel together too and been so happy with how it turned out!
Rachel says
May 13, 2017 at 1:46 amThank you, I am going to try this. I know it is an older post but I found you through the ORC and was looking around 🙂
One question. You said it could ruin my washer or flood my laundry room so take it to the laundromat. Are their machines specially made to handle this? I would hate to ruin someone else’s machine or flood their business, I would feel terrible.
BrightGreenDoor says
May 21, 2017 at 7:39 pmThank you so much for leaving a comment. So mine never has ruined a washer, but it’s advice that I read somewhere when washing flannel for the first time. I would hate to flood a laundromat too, but I think their machines are built to handle more. Thankfully it’s never happened after I’ve washed many at the laundromat… probably 20 of them.
Michelle Belk says
July 12, 2017 at 11:26 amJust an idea or suggestion, i haven’t yet tried taking this type quilt, but it IS my next one, and this is the first I’ve seen someone mention the threads clogging the washing machines, what if you put the little Quilts on a pillow case or a laundry bag and washed? I know on every tutorial they say you really NEED to wash and dry several times to get the “rag” effects, thanks so much
BrightGreenDoor says
July 13, 2017 at 4:22 pmMine have always gotten a nice ragged look after only one washing. I love the idea of the laundry bag. I wish I would have thought of it sooner! I have a nice big one, I’ll try that next time!
Heather says
September 25, 2017 at 8:39 pmI square up fabrics before cutting them out, also, I stitch TWICE around entire quilt, have never had a problem, also, if making square blocks, I start in at corner of batting, (not at edge) and sew each block with a locking stitch at beginning X this holds the layers together, makes it easier to snip around where blocks join together.