How to Sew a Jean Rag Baby Quilt

It's a cool night. I'm snuggled in between my grandmother and my brother. My cousins are sprawled around us. We're tucked into a heavy jean blanket laid out on the trampoline sleeping under the stars. I can still remember the smell of the jean mingled with the smell of the forming dew on the grass. These were some of my favorite nights, surpassed only by sitting out on the jean quilt watching the Fourth of July fireworks explode over our small town park.

That blanket is older than I am, a wedding present to my parents. It has scorch marks from sitting so close to the grand finally that the fireworks burnt holes into it. A few are from embers that drifted away from our campfires. Jean quilts are so sentimental for me. When I received news that a friend of mine would be welcoming a sweet baby boy into the world, I knew it was time to tackle my first jean quilt. I made a prototype first, but this is how I made a Noah's Ark themed jean rag quilt for her.

1 Your first step is to cut the fabric squares for your quilt! Two of the most common sizes are 5" squares and 10" squares. You'll need to decide how large you want your quilt and calculate how many squares you'll need. Keep in mind a 1/2 inch on each side will be lost sewing the squares together.

2 The next step is to lay out all of your squares until you find a pattern that you like. You will do this for the back and the front. I had the trickiest time keeping my pattern straight and had to take out stitches and re-sew everything a few times! So don't stress if that happens to you too, just watch as you go!

3 Your next step is to pin all the pieces together. You'll need to pin the back to the front, and the squares on each row as well. You'll want the patterned sides facing out on everything.

4 Label each row, front and back. For example I would pin a note like "F1" (front 1) and pin to the opposite side of the row "B1" (back 1)

5 First you will sew the squares together in each row. Then, once all the squares in each row are sewn, you'll sew the rows together.

6 Being careful not to cut the stitches, you will then clip slits about every 1/2-1 inch (depending on size of squares) where the fabric meets & around the edge.