Sometimes when you ask a woodworker what gets made in the workshop, they will jokingly say “sawdust”. I experienced the fabric equivalent of that and can say that I have made lint.
The rag quilt is finished, and boy, I had forgotten how much lint and thread comes off of ones of these during the final step. I cut the fringed parts out on the sun porch to try to contain it. Right now the floor looks fuzzy. I took it outside and shook it vigorously and a cloud of more threads came off. I tied it up in a pillowcase before throwing it into the washing machine, and am I ever glad I thought to do that. There were fist-sized balls of lint and threads in the pillow case after washing, but at least they did not clog up the washer. Outside once more for a good shake and now I have a patch of grass that looks blue. And of course more came off in the dryer, but I only had to stop and clear the lint trap two times. .
After all of that lint though, there is a completed rag quilt. It is on the small size to be used as a lap quilt or a small blanket to sit on in the grass. As it gets washed more, the fraying of the raw edges will continue until the seams become soft and fuzzy. This was a stash-busting project, although I did end up having to get some additional denim for the back squares. It was $4 for two yards, and I used less than half of it, so altogether an economical project.
Very nice rag quilt! I wish I had thought of putting mine in a pillow case to wash them! Thank you for that helpful hint! 🙂
You are welcome! It made a big difference in not having to clean out the washing machine afterward.
It’s beautiful!!! I’ve never seen anything like that and I love it! Would you mind explaining how you did it? Is there a pattern online I could look up? Thank you for any help! A friend’s daughter is having a baby in two months, and that may be quick and easy to do. Hopefully! Thank You!🌺
Thank you! It is very quick. Here are some good instructions. http://www.quilting101.com/styles/rag-quilts. I made this with 10 inch squares and no batting since the denim is pretty heavy. In the past, I used cut up jeans and that had smaller squares.
Fun project! But what a mess–is the shedding done at this point?
It seems to be for using it, but I’m sure when I toss it into the wash for another round more (much more) will come off.