Rag Quilt – Baby Shabby Chic

I recently had the opportunity to make a non-traditional baby rag quilt.  The lady that commissioned this quilt had a set of parameters to meet the design style of the mother – Shabby Chic.

Fabric Acquisition

You would think that fabric shopping for a small baby quilt would be a breeze. I found this not to be the case.  The rules were, no baby themes, no obvious patterns and everything in white, grey and tan.  This is not as easy to find as one may think.  White and grey – OK, that works. unfortunately, the shabby chic patterns in flannel were not as easy to come up with. I did find two patterns and two solids that played quite well together.

Assembly

After some random placement,I found that these fabrics played very well together and provided the look that the client wanted.  After being put all together, there was something lacking – the shabby part!

Dryer Debacle

Unfortunately, it was at this very moment that the heating element decided to go out on my dryer.  YIKES!  The problem stemmed from a clogged vent pipe.  It was time to call a technician.

The technician installed a new heating element and the pipe was cleaned. I could now get down to the job of creating shabbiness.

 

The real trick to this process is washing in cold water and drying with 5 tennis balls!  Each subsequent washing will make this quilt softer and softer.

The Finished Product

The final result was a cute and shabby chic quilt that any baby will love!