AboutAudrey Zohner Expertise I am an expert rag quilter. I have made over 100 rag quilts and would love to assist others with questions and methods. I don't know much about actual quilting like machine or hand quilting or applique. I am, however, the resident expert on rag quilting in my town. If you want to make a rag quilt, I am your woman.
Experience I have been sewing for 12 years and rag quilting for 4. I have experienced just about every pitfall there is in rag quilting. Check out my quilts at audreysragquilts.etsy.com.
Organizations ISU Craft Club
EtsyKids
Education/Credentials High school diploma
Bachelor's in Animal Science
Question Are there fabrics I do NOT want to use (won't fray) and which are the best? Do you use batting or flannel? I'm getting ready to make my first rag quilt tote. Practice for my first blanket! Thanks!!
Answer Anything polyester is horrible for rag quilting. It doesn't fray at all. However, there is an exception. Minkee works awesome in rag quilts as long as you surround it with flannel. It won't rag at all, but it's worth it for the softness.
Quilting cottons work somewhat for rag quilts. Don't really fray, so again, you need to surround or back them with something that will.
Flannel is great for rag quilts, but you need to wash the quilt on a delicate cycle or it will pill like an old sweater.
Homespun is the absolute best in terms of ragging. It's not the softest, though, so I usually use flannels for baby quilts, homespuns for "primitive" quilts and flannel/quilting cottons for adult quilts.
I personally hate polyester batting, but only because my sewing machine can't sew through it. The cotton batting is okay, but it's not warm enough for me.
So I use fleece. Fleece is the absolute best batting for rag quilting. I've said it a thousand times, but I'm going to say it again. Fleece has the warmth of a 20oz polyester batting, but the flatness of cotton batting. My machine loves to sew through it and it will never ball up or separate inside the quilt. It is also the warmest middle you can put in your quilt. I love every quilt I have made with fleece. They are so soft and snuggly, it's amazing.
The best part is that since you are going to be cutting the fleece into squares and using it in the middle of your quilt, you can buy remnants for cheap at fabric stores instead of buying off the bolt. Just make sure you cut the batting squares smaller and sew the "X" across the square, because fleece doesn't rag at all and you don't want it poking out the seams.
Flannel is great if you want a light quilt. It is also nice because you can cut it the same size as your front/back squares and just snip it along with the rest of the seams. It rags really well, so it actually helps with the look of the quilt. I always put in a flannel batting when I use quilting cottons or minkee in my quilts.
For the rag quilt tote, I used fleece in the sides and bottom and used a layer of Peltex to give support to the bottom. Thanks for the question!
