How Do You Make A Patchwork Quilt And A Rag Quilt In The Same Quilt?

Patchwork quilts are fun to make and rag quilts are fun to make. Even though they are two different methods you can still combine the two quilt types for a beautiful creative quilt.

Choose 4 or more print cotton fabrics for your patchwork quilt.
Create a cabin in the middle of your quilt by using 1 brown fat quarter sewing brown strips in rows and adding a white roof. Hand applique a door and window to the cabin.
Choose flannel fabric for two rows of rag quilting. You will need a layer of flannel for the top, flannel or batting for the middle layer and flannel for the backing.
Create a patchwork design to add above the rag quilt squares and matching patchwork design below the rag quilt row.
You will need some low loft batting to quilt as you go with your patchwork and cabin quilt block squares.
You will also need backing fabric for your quilt.
Quilt each quilt block as you go. You can quilt by sewing machine or by hand before joining each square.
Complete your quilt by using the easy binding method.

Have you ever thought about attempting to put patchwork with a rag quilt design? Well I hadn’t until I needed to lengthen my quilt. I had carefully designed the patchwork part of my quilt using some beautiful red and green Riley Blake fabric. I had placed a cabin quilt block square surrounded by snow in the center of my quilt. Once I got it all sewn and quilted I realized it just wasn’t quite long enough. I had bought some red and white flannel for the background fabric but decided to use this instead for a couple of rows of rag quilting.

Fabric For Patchwork

There are many options when it comes to patchwork. They are fun to make, not hard to sew, and fun to give away. They sew up really fast especially if you quilt as you go on your sewing machine details here: Quilt As You Go You Can Do It! (Or you can quilt by hand.) And then bind your quilt with this method What Is The Easiest Way To Bind A Quilt? In no time at all, you will be doing a celebration dance because you will have created your very own patchwork quilt.

Start By Putting A Cabin In The Center Of Your Quilt

Sometimes my inspiration comes from unexpected places. Like a Little House On The Prairie children’s book called Christmas In The Big Woods. I noticed an old fashioned Christmas quilt of red, white, and you guessed it, green.

Inspiration quilt I saw in the book, *Christmas In The Big Woods* by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Renee Graef

Large green patches alternating with smaller squares of red and white patches sewn into a patchwork quilt and placed on top of “ma and pa’s bed”. I fashioned my quilt after this design. It was easy to replicate and create. You never know where you might get a creative idea to make a quilt.

I put a log cabin in the center of my patchwork and rag quilt. I appliquéd a door and a window on top of the cabin quilt block.

A cozy log cabin sitting in the woods ended up in the middle of my blanket. I took that inspiration to the store and bought these Riley Blake fabrics:

White and gold Golden Days by Amber Labau
Red Bee Ginghams by Lori Holt
Green Love You S’more (This reminds me of my Austrian dirndl I made while on study abroad with BYU in Baden Bei Wien. I love, love, love this simple elegant design of green with little white trees on the fabric. I just can’t even because it is so beautiful and cute!)
Red With Words Christmas by My Minds Eye (Love any fabric with wording designed on it!)

Although these fabrics have a Christmas vibe you could use them for an everyday quilt design. I added white, brown, and a little gold fabric to the mix to create a cabin in the center of my quilt. Subtle, soft, and very beautiful. Start by making a cabin to put in the center of your quilt.

My cabin inspiration also came from the book, *Christmas In The Big Woods* by Laura Ingalls Wilder illustrated by Renee Graef.

Cabin Design

A cabin sitting in the middle of your quilt is quaint. It’s cozy. I’ll share the “tea” on how to make my cabin.

The cabin is made up of strips cut from a fat quarter.

You only need a fat quarter of brown fabric for the cabin. Cut it in half. Then cut your half fat quarter fabric into 4 even strips.

Add a snow covered roof to your cabin strips.

Sew each strip horizontally until they are all sewn together. It starts to look like a cabin made of logs.
Cut a snow covered roof by cutting an angle on each side of your roof that you can sew to the top of the brown logs to create a snowy roof.

Measure and add a piece of white fabric to the left side of your roof.

You will want to square up the cabin by adding a small white piece of fabric cut at a diagonal to fit the top of the roof on the left side.
Now do the same and square up the right side of your cabin. Add some fabric to the right side of your cabin. (I fit the fabric to the top and side of my cabin.)

Square up the top of your cabin and add some fabric to the side of your right of your cabin.

Now add a strip of white fabric to the bottom and the top of your cabin quilt square. You can determine how big you want your cabin quilt square to be.

Use the quilt as you go method for quilting the cabin quilt block. You can quilt on your sewing machine or quilt by hand.
Time to add a door and window to the front. Cut out a door out of gold fabric for your cabin. I cut a square window out of the red gingham fabric.
I then cut a piece of low loft batting to fit the size of the door and a piece to fit the size of the window. I hand quilted them with brown Perle Cotton thread. I added a vertical stitch to the middle of the window and then a horizontal stitch to make it look like a window with panes.
I hand quilted the log cabin to make the brown fat quarter strips pop so they looked like logs.
Then I machine quilted the white snow on the top of the roof and the snow (white fabric) underneath the cabin.
I wanted to secure the door and the window to the cabin so I just used a straight stitch and sewed around the edge of the door and then the window securing it to the cabin with my sewing machine after hand quilting them with Perle Cotton.
Outline a fireplace using the brown thread again and then sew a curvy line of smoke coming from the cabin. Voila la cabin is created.

Sew rag quilt squares together and then sew a row of them above your cabin and then sew a row of rag quilt squares below your log cabin quilt block.

Add Rag Quilt Squares Above And Below Your Cabin Quilt Block

Cut your rag quilt blocks to the size you want them to be. I cut four squares the same size.
Take a stack of two fabrics with flannel on top, a piece of low loft batting to put in the middle of your rag block.
Sew a straight stitch around the block.
Sew an X from left to right and right to left on your rag block. Normally you would have a stack of three pieces of fabric making a rag quilt block however because you will be adding a backing fabric to the entire quilt, you won’t need the underneath piece of flannel on the back of the rag quilt squares.
So you will have one or two pieces of flannel or one square of flannel with one square of batting.
Then sew the next block and the next the same way.
Now set each block side by side. Right sides up. Sew the blocks right edge to right edge together side by side.
Leave a seam big enough between blocks to cut into thin fringe.
Sew a row of rag blocks above the cabin. Then sew a row of rag blocks underneath the cabin quilt block.
Once you have added the backing to your quilt, you will want to wash your quilt in cold water and a gentle cycle. Then dry it on low. Dry it and watch the fringe go fluffy. Each time you wash and dry your quilt the fringe on your rag squares will get fluffier.

Create A Patchwork Design

Like I mentioned I fashioned my patchwork quilt blocks after a quilt I saw in Christmas In The Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. You can sew simple squares or get more fancy with your design just depending on your level of quilting ability. I love the Riley Blake fabrics that I chose. The red and white flannel plaid that I chose for my rag quilt squares went perfectly with the patchwork fabrics I chose. Not bragging here just very pleased with the fabrics I was able to find. I have to like my fabrics or it is very hard to create a quilt with them. You probably know what I mean. When your fabrics come together, sewing them into a quilt is motivating and I would add more fun. At least for me.

Quilt As You Go

Quilt each patchwork block as you go. So after you sew each quilt block for your patchwork and rag quilt, cut a piece of low loft batting that will fit the quilt square. Then quilt a design on the top of your quilt block with your sewing machine. Again I chose to hand quilt most of the pieces and loved how the Perle Cotton stood out on my quilt. Sew each row of quilt patchwork blocks together and add the rag quilt blocks until your quilt top is all sewn together and ready to bind.

Bind Your Quilt The Easy Way

Now put your backing right side up on the floor and pin your quilt topper so the right side is down on the backing fabric. Right sides will be touching with the backing and the topper. Cut away any excess backing from the quilt. It is important to measure the backing so that it fits your quilt topper exactly. Now sew around the entire quilt with a quarter seam leaving an opening on the bottom of your quilt to turn your quilt right side out. Once you have turned your quilt inside out after sewing it together, sew the opening closed using a top stitch. Then sew a straight top stitch close to the edge all around your quilt.