Rag quilt

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.