Eliza Rag Quilt Pattern by The Paisley Star

The Eliza Rag Quilt pattern is a jaw droppingly stunning quilt that is perfect for a beginning quilter.  The squares are layered into "quilt sandwiches", with the batting between two layers of fabric, and an X is stitched through the layers.  When all the sandwiches are stitched, they are joined into 11 rows of 11 squares each.  The "four patch" squares are seamed on the back, making them into a larger square the same size as the plain squares.  All the plain and four patch larger squares are sewn with raw edges on the front side, and after assembly, they are snipped.  When the quilt is washed and dried, the raw edge seams ruffle up, giving the entire quilt a gorgeous, vintage-y, chenilled look.  

We used Holly Taylor's "Wild Iris" collection for our Eliza Rag Quilt.  To get a similar look with different fabrics, choose 8 or more fabrics in a variety of scales, with similar saturation, and three hues.  We chose greens, purples, and creams in a pale to medium saturation.  They are not quite pastels, but they are not brights.  Some are almost solids, having just a slight weave look texture.  Some are small scale prints. Some are medium scale.  We don't have any large scale in our mix.  This would look equally nice in warm hues and a medium bright saturation, such as yellow-orange, orange, and pink, for example.  Or for a boyish look, try cool reds, blues, and creams, and with a faded look rather than intense saturation.  Or teal, turquoise, and sky blue.  Any of these would look beautiful with the vintage chenille style of the rag quilt.  Of course, if you have different colors in mind, by all means try them!  Different colors and prints can change the personality of the quilt to be all your own, and that's just one of the fun things about planning your quilt!

If you want to make this quilt from fat quarters, you need a minimum of 12 fat quarters for the front, more if you want a wider variety of prints.  You need 2-1/3 yard of one fabric for the back and 2/3 yard 90" batting.  You need to choose your batting and backing at the beginning, because they are sewn into "sandwiches" with the front fabrics right away.  

The rag quilt style is economical in terms of saving the expense of paying someone to quilt your layers on a longarm quilting machine.  Each time you wash your finished quilt, the edges will get a little more ruffled.  Pinning the seams, matching corners precisely, gives the back side a beautiful finished look, with all the stitched Xs lining up in diagonals that span from one corner to the opposite.  The extra time it takes is well worth it.  Also, with a rag quilt, pressing of seams is not necessary, so a bit of time is saved in that respect.