First Rag Quilt

I finally finished making the baby rag quilt - my first.  I had a few firsts with this quilt and it would have gone together very quickly if it wasn't for the many frustrating episodes with my sewing machine losing its tension.  

My beloved Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0  has had an issue with maintaining tension since day one.  I've taken it in to the shop where I bought it two to three times and each time I've paid around $100 only to be told there was nothing wrong with it, so they just cleaned and oiled it.   If you've ever taken a sewing machine in for repair or cleaning, you know what I mean when I say that the technician doesn't try different types of fabrics when they test it.   They use the basic white medium weight cotton that they use to give lessons - folded in two.   When I tell the store I am sewing  four layers of quilting cotton plus fibrefill, or sewing knits, shouldn't they try to duplicate the type and thickness of fabric that I'm using?  Sorry; I digress.

The quilt-as-you-go technique was  so much easier than trying to quilt the entire quilt at the end - my least favourite part of the process.  Doing the ragging after the quilt is finished... snipping "1/2" fringes" in all the raw seams is hard on your hands.   

I decided to try another first- I was on a roll so why not?  The Pfaff 4.0 has sensor-matic free-motion quilting that I've never been brave enough to try.   A technique I soon discovered requires a lot of practise and patience.  I practiced on a small sample but it definitely isn't the same as doing free motion with a completed quilt.  Even if it is child sized.  I'm thinking it would be much easier with the professional room-size quilting machine that I do not own.  The bulk of the quilt brings you to a screeching halt at times and I had a few "oops" on the wide popsicle border.  After stitch ripping the first attempt I decided to try the simpler design of "x's" that I did on the squares.  

I'm not sure that I'll do another rag quilt.  You save time doing the quilt-as-you-go but at the end, trimming all the raw seams, then running the quilt through the washer and dryer a couple times after its finished... and taking a pet roller to it to pick off three million threads stuck all over the quilt during the fraying process of the "ragging" portion of the project takes up all, and maybe more, of the time you saved earlier.

I actually remembered to photograph this one before I give it away.  I had so much fun finding the fabrics for this quilt.  Absolutely love the popsicle fabric I found!  Well, I love the orange and green frog fabric and the multi-coloured cats too.  Okay, I forgot about the blue bug-gy fabric, the buzzing bees... let's face it, I love all the bright colours.