A Dozen Bags- March (early April)

I'll bet you thought I forgot about the March bag! It was a busy month (understatement) and I got a little behind. Silly Me-- I didn't think anyone would notice. Then I got this sweet message from Sarah in Houston asking me if she missed it. So this is for Sarah, and everyone else out there who would like to make a new bag. For those of you who are new to this blog, I started a series in January called "A Dozen Bags". My plan is to give you one free pattern for a bag every month.

This bag is kind of wintery, but it hasn't felt much like spring around here until today. I'll have it ready for next Fall. :-)

If you've ever made a rag quilt, this will be easy for you. If this is your first frayed edge (rag) project, you'll soon be hooked. If you've done this before, no need to follow my instructions exactly. Make it whatever size you like.


You'll need some flannel scraps. I think it looks best with lots of different fabrics but it's up to you. You'll need (54) 5 inch squares of flannel and (27) 4 inch squares of scrap batting. I like Warm and Natural but you can use any batting scraps- or you could use flannel or a cut up blanket or old sweatshirt. This is a great recyle project.

Make 27 little sandwiches. The flannel pieces (right sides out) are the bread and the batting scraps are the meat. Just one piece of meat per sandwich here or your bag will weigh a ton.
Sew X's on the sandwiches. I like to chain piece them.... going one direction... cut them apart.... then chain the other direction. When you stitch from corner to corner, start and end about 1/4 inch from the corner. Try to be as accurate as you can, but don't stress about it if you sew too far. This isn't an heirloom quilt- it's rag quilting.
You'll notice that my little sandwich isn't perfect. Not a problem. This is called "rag quilting" for a reason.

Make your little sandwiches and I'll tell you how to put them together tomorrow. When we're done, this will be a small tote- style bag. After that, we'll make another one that is smaller with a closure. That will be the April bag. (See my plan to get caught up with my bags???).

When we're done with the 2 bags, I'll show you how to make rag quilts and I'll show you the technique for making them double sided.