A Tuesday Tutorial

My precious cousin....niece....no, cousin....Stephanie (who is only a year older than Jess, and since I'm the oldest grandchild....I feel like I should be her Aunt!!!)....anyway, she's expecting a baby boy in August!!! 

We're so happy for her and her hubby and his big sister!!!    

I wanted to do something special for her because she's very special to me....so I made her....the baby....a "rag" quilt....but told her she could use it until he gets here!!!

  

Here's a little tutorial on how it's done, just in case y'all don't already know....

For the blanket I made, I had 5 squares across and 7 squares down.  I cut my top square and my backing into 7" squares 
(I used cotton for the top and flannel for the back). 
I also cut a 6" square piece of batting for the center of each square.

Place the 3 pieces together and sew an "X" on the top of the square.  

I used turquoise thread on top and brown thread in the bobbin....just so it would look nicer.

Here's a close-up of a top square....

And....the backing....

Then....you sew your squares together using a 1/2" seam.
(I didn't get pics of this part...sorry)....
....but, you sew them together wrong sides together....which leaves your seam on the top.  After you get all your squares sewn together....now comes the not so easy part.  You cut...and cut...and cut....about 1/4" apart....around each and every square....down to your seam.  Also, sew a seam all around the perimeter of your blanket (1/2 ") and clip the outside, too.  Be extra careful cutting, but if you do happen to snip thru the seam, just take your quilt back to the machine and sew back over the seam again....no biggie!!!

Now...after you've down all that cutting...you wash your blanket...and....you need to wash it all by itself 
(I now have a top that I'll never get all the lint off of!!!).  

Then, you put it in the dryer. 

The little 1/4" seams you made all around the blanket will fray...and become "raggie".  You'll probably want to clean your lint filter a couple of times before the blanket gets completely dry.

Here's the finished product....and I hope by looking at the pictures you can get a better idea of how it's sewn together and what I mean about clipping all the seams. 

See the little salamander and frogs and snails, etc. on some of the blocks? I just cut those out and used a zig-zag seam to stitch them onto the polka-dot blocks after I had done the "X" seam!!

I was so happy that Stephanie loved her blanket!!!

If y'all have any questions, I'll try my best to answer!!

Ecclesiastes 9:10a (KJV) 

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. 

I'm linking to.....

 Tuesday Blessings to each of 'ya!!!

In His Most Precious Love....and with mine!!!