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 a person at our guild said rag quilts were a danger to washers and dryers and that most laundromats will not allow them to be washed and dryed there. she said the lint build up is a danger to the machines due to clogging and a fire hazzard. i wonder if you have heard of this problem. also i wonder about the durability of rag quilts and do they fray right down to the seam line after repeated washings and fall apart?
Answer First of all, rag quilts can be a danger to washers and dryers, but only when you try to wash a quilt that's too big or don't clean out the lint trap. This is where the old wive's tale about the dryer catching on fire comes from.
Not much lint actually comes off in the washer, but you still need to run your hands around the inside of the washer to get the few bits that escape. The dryer is the more serious problem. When drying a rag quilt, ALWAYS check the lint catcher every 5-10 minutes and clean it out. A rag quilt will shed lint like mad for the first 3-4 washes, but after that, it's basically like anything else. But for those first washes, you must clean out the lint trap regularly. It really does fill up within minutes.
Laundromats don't like rag quilts, not because of any danger, but because people don't wipe the inside of the washers or clean out the dryer lint traps. This means that whoever washes their clothes after the rag quilt will have some lint on their clothes from the washer and their dryer won't heat well or circulate air because of all the lint in the catcher. I have asked several laundromat owners in Idaho Falls about rag quilts and they all said that if people would clean out the washers and lint traps, then they wouldn't mind rag quilts.
Rag quilts are extremely durable (when made with good materials and thread). My father has been using his flannel rag quilt for 4 years now and it is still almost as good as new. I like to use cotton flannel and I always use 100% polyester thread to ensure that if the flannel does stretch, the thread can handle it. I also stitch twice along the long seams because they are under more stress than any other part.
There is a possibility that the rag quilt can fray right out of the seams, but this only happens when you cut the seam too close. I always leave about 1/4 inch between the end of the cut and the stitch line and I have yet to have a seam fray apart. Once I snipped right to the stitches and that seam did fray away in the wash. No other seam on the blanket did except for that one, though.
Think of it this way. The normal seam allowance on a quilt is 1/4 inch. A rag quilt has a seam allowance of 1/2-1 inch to allow you to snip your seams. You still have that 1/4 seam, if not more depending on how deep you snip. As long as you leave AT LEAST 1/4 inch between the end of the snip and your stitch line (and use good thread), the stitches won't come out.
So, to recap. Clean out the lint trap and you won't have a problem washing your quilt. And, as long as you don't snip your seams too close, your quilt will stay together through many wash cycles.
