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1. To make this Americana Rag Quilt, you will need 540 square blocks 10 x 10 cm in size. You will also need 270 batting squares 8x8 cm in size...
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2. You can also cut out your fabric squares with the Sizzix Big Shot and the square scallop die. This saves a lot of time and you can cut around 6 layers of fabric at the same time.
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3. This is how the scallop squares look when cut. The advantage of these is that you can nicely match the scallops when assembling the blocks.
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4. To assemble, place a square with the good side facing down. Now place a piece of batting in the center of the scallop. Then place a second fabric square with the good side facing up on top of the batting. Pin this “sandwich” together.
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5. Run the “sandwich” through the sewing machine. Quilt by sewing from one corner diagonal to the opposite corner. Repeat for the other two corners to create a “x” through the block.
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6. Once 15 blocks have been sewn, you can sew these blocks together using a 1 cm seam allowance.
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7. Now create the next row. Once finished, pin the second row to the first row with the right sides facing (the sides without the seam allowances) and then sew these together. On this quilt there will always be one side that is flat and one side with all of the seam allowances visible.
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8. This is how it looks once the second row is sewn to the first row. Continue in this manner until all 18 rows are sewn together. Once this is completed, sew completely around the quilt using a 1 cm seam allowance to close of the outside edges.
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9. The final step is to snip in all the seam allowances at about 5-7 mm intervals to just before the stitching line. This requires a lot of time and you may need to take breaks in between to prevent the hand from getting sore. Once all of the seam allowances are cut, you will machine wash the quilt in cold water using the gentle cycle. This will fray the seam allowances nicely, causing them to become fuzzy. You may choose to wash the quilt a second or third time to cause more fraying. Make sure to clean the lint filter between washes as there will be many loose threads caught in it.
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