Book review & project from Soft & Cozy Keepsakes

I’ve been following Margo Yang at My Quilts and Crafts for the past year, and I was happy to give a book review of her newest publication, Soft & Cozy Keepsakes – Faux Rag Quilting, published by AQS.

Rag quilting has been around for a long time, but I had never tried it myself.  Margo’s technique has given this traditional method of quilting a new life with ease and fun.  It’s almost as if applique and embroidery have been combined with rag quilting to create soft and easy projects that are quick to put together.

 

The technique involves making faux rag strips from flannel.  These are used to create designs on a pretty fabric or to outline shapes that have been appliqued onto background fabric.  There are 16 projects in this book, ranging from pillows to wall hangings and quilts.

 

I was excited to try this technique out, so I made a monogram pillow for my granddaughter Amelia using the method described in the book.  I had it finished in 4 hours and it turned out really cute!

 

This pillow was so easy to create, and it makes a great gift.  I like the texture added by the faux rag technique; it adds great tactile stimulation, too.  I used a few fat quarters of Alison Glass prints for the front and back.  It’s a great way to use a treasured fabric without cutting it into lots of small pieces.

 

Most of the projects from the book use flannel for all of the components such as the background fabric and applique pieces, however, it’s only necessary to use flannel for the faux rag strips.  Since I don’t have a large selection of flannel, I was glad I could use my cotton stash combined with 1/4 yard of purchased flannel.

I like to add quilting to my pillows, so I did that first.  I lined the pillow top fabric with fusible fleece and made some random, wavy lines across the front using a matching thread.  You can barely see the letter A outlined in white pencil below.

 

Next came the faux rag strips.  The photo below is before clipping the strips (other than the clips made to go around the curves):

 

And after all of the clips are made, it looks like this:

 

The real magic happens after the pillow is completed.  Once you wash and dry it, the flannel “blooms” and creates a beautiful effect.  I think mine needs another round in the wash and dry cycle.  It will keep blooming more as I wash it.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I’ll be making more “soft and cozy” projects using faux rag quilting.  To celebrate the release of her book, Margo is having a fantastic giveaway on her blog, My Quilts and Crafts, until April 30th.  Make sure to go visit her and leave a comment for a chance to win!