Carter's Super Rag Quilt

I had been planning for quite awhile to make a quilt but I didn't have the first idea how to do so. My grandmother was a VERY avid quilter. She had acquired so much material through the years that she literally had run out of room to put it all. I never got a chance to really ask for advice from her before she passed in March. So I did the only thing I could think of doing and that was watching as many you tube videos as possible. I knew that I wanted my first quilt to be a "rag quilt". For one it looked simple enough, it was a quilt that could be quilted as I went and I thought Carter would like the look and feel of this quilt. I looked at a couple different videos but one stuck out to me a lot. Gourmet Quilter has a lot of really informative tutorials. I can for 100% certainty say that this particular tutorial helped get me going on my "Super Rag" quilt.

I'm going to be completely honest here...I had never used a sewing machine before this project. AND I'll be even more honest, I had a lot of issue at first. I ripped A LOT of seams out. I'm still learning as I go. 

It took quite a long time to get all of my squares cut, but once that was done it really didn't take that long to get everything sewed together. I do advise though to lay out your pattern somewhere flat to get an idea of how you would like it, and then label each row. I labeled mine with #'s, it's just however you prefer it. 

The most tedious part though was snipping all of the raw edges. 

I liked the look of the finished edges rather than the raw edges. It made it feel more like a quilt. I did a simple zigzag stitch...I practiced for quite awhile before applying it to my quilt. It turned out nice..other than a few spots...

This is what the back looked like. I didn't have enough printed fabric to cover the back so I used primary colored flannel fabric. I don't particularly like the back compared to the front but Carter likes it, and I suppose that's what counts. Landen has already asked for me to make him a quilt for his birthday as well..expect he has asked for transformers. 

I already have my brain working on some ideas for my next quilt. One for the master bedroom, but don't look for that one any time soon. A queen size quilt might take me awhile. Besides, I foresee a lot of days being spent at the beach soon!! I also have quite a few pregnant friends, so I might just have to have some fun making some baby items :)

This is Carter opening his "Super Raggy Quilt" at his birthday party in Ohio!