Rag Quilt Tutorial: How to Make a Fleece-Backed Rag Quilt

Feb 14, 2011
Christine Mann

Fleece Backed Rag Quilt with Valentine Hearts - Photo by Christine Mann

Learn to make an easy rag quilt that's warmer than other rag quilts and generates less lint because it is backed with fleece fabric instead of flannel.

What’s better to snuggle up in than a soft, cozy rag quilt? Unlike a traditional quilt, rag quilts are made with the seam allowances exposed on the top side of the quilt. The seams are clipped, then the quilt is washed to fray the raw edges and give it that characteristic ragged look.

Rag quilts are great projects for beginning quilters, because the rag quilt technique is very forgiving of less-than-perfect cutting and sewing. The fleece-backed rag quilt you’ll learn to make in this article is even easier to make than a traditional rag quilt because it has just two layers. A layer of fleece replaces both of the traditional batting and backing layers. The resulting quilt is warmer and more snuggly than a typical rag quilt. A fleece-backed quilt also generates a lot less lint when you wash it than a traditional rag quilt.

You can use these instructions to make two different sized quilts:

Larger lap quilt (7 blocks by 9 blocks): 52½” x 67½”
Smaller lap quilt (5 blocks by 7 blocks) 37½” x 52½”

Supply List for Fleece-Backed Rag Quilt

Here’s what you will need to make the quilt:

Assorted color-coordinated quilt fabrics. Loosely woven fabrics are good for rag quilts because they ravel quickly. Learn more about choosing good-looking fabric colors for quilts. For a larger lap quilt (7 blocks by 9 blocks): 52½” x 67½”, you will need sixty three 8½” squares. For a smaller lap quilt (5 blocks by 7 blocks), you need thirty five 8 ½” squares.
Light or medium-weight polyester fleece. Cut the same number of 8½” fleece squares as quilt fabric squares.
Rotary cutter and cutting mat. (If you have access to an Accuquilt Go die cutter, the Accuquilt has an 8½” rag quilt die that precuts the ragged edges into each block and takes a lot of the work out of making a rag quilt.)
Sewing machine.
All-purpose or quilting thread in a coordinating color.
Rag quilt snips or sharp pointed-tip scissors for snipping the seam allowances. Clipping a rag quilt’s seams involves a lot of cutting. Rag quilt snips are much faster for this job and much less fatiguing to your hand than regular scissors. I bought mine for about $20 (U.S.) at a fabric store. If you use regular scissors, the spring-loaded type will cause less hand fatigue than regular scissors.

Step by Step Instructions for Making a Fleece-Backed Rag Quilt

Unlike most other quilts, rag quilts are sewed with generous ½” seam allowances throughout. The outer edge of the quilt is not finished with quilt binding, but stay stitched all around the edge, then snipped like the blocks to make a ragged edge.

The photos at the bottom of the page give a visual guide to these instructions. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

Here’s how to make the rag quilt:

Layer each block with a fleece square on the bottom, right side down, and quilt fabric on top, right side up. See Photo 1 at the bottom of the page.
Pin the block in the middle of each side to secure it for sewing.
Sew an X shape across each square, as shown in Photo 2 below. This is all the quilting you need to do!
Lay out the blocks on a flat work surface, arranged into rows as you want them to appear in the finished quilt. See Photo 3 below.
Starting on the left top corner of the quilt, sew the blocks in each horizontal row together. Put the blocks with their fleece sides together, as shown in Photo 4 below. Pin if you'd like to (I'm lazy and usually don’t pin.) Use a ½” seam allowance. The raw seam edges should be on the TOP of the quilt, not the back side, as in most quilt, as shown in Photo 5 below.
Join the rows together, working from the top of the quilt to the bottom. Lay the rows with fleece sides together and use a ½” seam allowance.
When all the rows have been joined into a single unit, stitch all around the outside of the quilt with a ½” seam allowance.
Use rag quilt snips or sharp pointed, spring loaded scissors to clip along all the seam allowances and all around the outside edges of the quilt, as shown in Photo 6 below. Put a cut about every quarter inch. Be careful not to clip through the seams themselves.
Wash and dry the quilt to fray the rough edges and fluff up the rag quilt. Warning: washing can produce a great deal of lint that might clog your water line. If you have access to a laundromat, it’s safer to wash the quilt there.
Check the seams to make sure you didn’t clip through any of them. If you did, restitch that seam on the sewing machine or by hand.

A rag quilt is a great way to use up fabric and fleece left over from other projects. Once you’ve made one, you’ll want to make one for everyone!