Rag Heart Quilt Tutorial

Rag Heart Quilt Tutorial

Recently I was invited to a wedding and as soon as I received the invitation I knew a quilt was in order.

However….I was short on time. Like, really, extremely, incredibly short on time….because my life had gone haywire.

But I wanted to make a quilt full of love.

In the end I only had three evenings to put something together…and decided that a ragged quilt was my best option.

So this is what I did:

Evening #1: I cut the fabric and batting squares.

Evening #2: I stitched up the quilt.

Evening #3: I clipped the quilt.

Evening #4: I attended the wedding reception….and snapped a few quilt quilt pictures on the way…just before the sun went down.

In the end I was happy with how this rag heart quilt turned out and am sure I will use the pattern again in the future when I need a quick quilt.

Here are all the details you will need to whip one of these up for yourself:

(And for me to refer back to in the future when I whipping up a few more of them.)

Finished Size:

Approximately 50″ x 50″

Materials Needed:

121 squares of batting cut at 4.5″ x 4.5″ (I like to use Warm and Natural batting.)

51 colored squares to create the heart shape cut at 5″ x 5″

70 white squares to create the background for the heart cut at 5″ x 5″

121 squares to create the back of the quilt cut at 5″ x 5″

*Note: I cut the back of the quilt to look like the front of the quilt…meaning I cut 51 colored squares and 70 white squares for the back and laid them out just as I did the front so that both the front and the back of the quilt has a heart. But that is just an option. The squares for the back can be all the same color, random prints, whatever!

Now…the cool thing about making ragged blankets is that you sew the front and back of the quilt together block by block….and then you sew the blocks together! (No need to tie or quilt after sewing!)

It is easy and a perfect project to work on while listening to an audio book.

Here’s what to do:

Take one of your backing squares and place it face down on your table.
On top of that place one of your 4″x 4″ batting pieces centering it in the middle of the backing square.
Place one of your top 5″x5″ squares face up on top of the batting piece, centering it. Now you have a mini quilt sandwich.

Sew diagonally from corner to corner to corner across your mini quilt sandwich.

Repeat this process for every single block that you will be using in this quilt.

Once you have all of your 5″x5″ front and back squares stitched with the batting in the center lay out your quilt in the heart pattern using the row by row instructions below:

Row 1: 11 white squares

Row 2: 3 white squares, 1 patterned square, 3 white squares, 1 patterned square, 3 white squares

Row 3: 2 white squares, 3 patterned squares, 1 white square, 3 patterned squares, 2 white squares

Row 4: 1 white square, 9 patterned squares, 1 white square

Row 5: 1 white square, 9 patterned squares, 1 white square

Row 6: 1 white square, 9 patterned squares, 1 white square

Row 7: 2 white squares, 7 patterned squares, 2 white squares

Row 8: 3 white squares, 5 patterned squares, 3 white squares

Row 9: 24 white squares, 3 patterned squares, 4 white squares

Row 10: 5 white squares, 1 patterned square, 5 white squares

Row 11: 11 white squares

Now that it is laid out it is time to get sewing again.

Take the first block in row one and place it back sides together with the second block in row 1 and stitch together using a 1/2″ seam allowance. Open and then sew block 3 to block 2….and so on until row 1 is complete.

These raw edge seams will be on the front of your blanket…it doesn’t seem right but it is!

These seams are what will be clipped to create those cute ragged stripes.

Follow this process for all 11 rows.

Then stitch your rows together.

Do this by putting row 1 on top of row 2, back sides together, and pin. Then stitch together using a 1/2″ seam allowance.

Next put row 3 on top of row 2, back sides together, and pin. Stitch together using a 1/2″ seam allowance.

Continue this process until all 11 rows are sewn together.

Once all 11 rows are sewn together stitch around the entire perimeter of your quilt using a 1/2 seam allowance.

***FAQ: Why do I use a 1/2 inch seam allowance? Because that gives you a little more fabric to clip and rag…which makes your quilt fluffier and fuller.

Now that everything is all stitched up it is time to clip.

Snip all along each of the raw edge seams and around the entire perimeter of the quilt. The closer your snips are together the more of a chenille feel the raw edges will have.