Guest Post at Craftbotic

Hey all!  I'm guest posting at Craftbotic today about rag quilts.  Go on over and check out Rosie's great blog!

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Hi, my name is Rosie, and I am launching a new blog called 'Craftbotic' this weekend and am very pleased to be host to wonderful crafters like Brittney! 

I jumped at the chance at Brittney's offer to guest post on my new blog. I am thrilled to be her first ever one and know that people will adore her gorgeous rag quilts.  I share a few similarities with Brittney, we both have our men in different countries, we are both new to blogging and we both are going on a giant craft learning curve.  I think Brittney might be winning on the ability front, but it's all about the fun, right?!

So what else can you find apart from another super tutorial? Well, for the rest of March there will be a party themed link-up that will run for the next 3 weeks. Please come and link up your top outfits, nibbles, decorations, gifts and theme ideas....if it is about celebrating, it is very welcome.

I hope that you will enjoy your time at Craftbotic. Join me on my journey into a wide range of new crafts, join in my book club, laugh at my attempts to get bikini fit for the summer and any of the many other random projects I seem to come up with along the way (including running 5km dressed as a superhero!). 

See you soon!

Rosie xx

Denim Rag Quilt

My hubby had a brother get married last May.  I decided to make them something for a wedding gift and decided on a denim/flannel rag quilt.  So I did a little inquiring and found out they planned on getting a queen sized bed.  I'd never done a rag quilt that large before, but decided it would be a good challenge.  Bring it!  Right?!


This brother has dreamed of being a pilot for the Air Force his whole life, and was pursuing that dream through the ROTC.  I decided to use blue denim and red and white flannel for this patriotic boy.  I started to make my sandwiches and played around with the layout.

About the time I had enough sandwiches made I found out they had changed their plans and were now getting a KING SIZED BED!!  Yikes!  So I calculated, and schemed, and scratched my head.  I calculated what kind of border I could add, how much extra it would cost.  Ouch -- all of the calculations and numbers were hurting my head!  I couldn't believe how much extra it was going to cost to increase the size.


So I compromised.  I made it large enough to cover the top of a king sized bed, but not hang over the edges.  I was still one HUGE beast to sew together in the end.  After I had all of my squares sewed into rows, I sewed the rows together into two big halves.  Then I called on my hubby and he helped support the weight of the two halves as I sewed them together and sewed around the edges.  It was still insane to maneuver even with his help!


I wanted it a little more personal so I had my dear friend Amy, from The Lily Pad Shop do a custom embroidered square for me.  She does great work!  You should check her out. :)

Christmas Rag Quilts

About two years ago I had a brilliant idea.  I was going to make Christmas rag quilts for each of my siblings families and one for my parents.  That's seven rag quilts.  It was during the beginning of my sewing experience so basic rag quilts were the extent of my skill.  Great idea, right?

Here they all are!  The four on top have actually been
"ragged" and washed.  They're throw size, about 4 ft x 4ft.

I bought the material (oh how quickly the cost added up!) and went to work.  I loved it and had so much fun at first!  Then the problems started.  I was pregnant and something - the smell of my sewing room, the heat upstairs, the smell of the material - was making me nauseous.  I tried to push through, but it wasn't happening.  So they got put on hold for a while.

I started working on them again during my second and third trimester and things went much better!  But then my baby came and time grew short.  I'd work on them here and there, but they still didn't make it done for the next Christmas.

Here's one of my favorites.

Here we are three Christmas' later, and they're all sewn together!  Yay!  I have four of them "ragged," and  I'm slowly working on the other three.  They've actually been sewn together for months, but I've had a hard time finding the motivation to rag all of them.  Any volunteers?

And another favorite.

My sibs may actually get them as presents this year. :)  Now I just have two problems.  1) I want one.  2) How do I decide who I give which one?  I need to decide quick, because I need to get one in the mail!