Burning through the Quilting Cotton Scraps!

Since I loved my first rag rug so very much, I decided to jump right in and make another.

This time around I pulled out all of the cool colored quilting cotton scraps I had stashed away.  I had a whole lot of this purple and green floral on a cream background which was supposed to be the backing of this quilt top that still needs to be quilted!  Yikes - need to get back to that soon!  But it is a bit heavy and did not seem like something I wanted to be hand quilting through for an extended period of time, so it became the one constant in the braid throughout this rug.

I also managed to take a few more in progress photos, so I thought I would better explain my process.  First, strips of fabric were ripped (faster and easier than cutting, and it means everything is right on grain).

The strips get stitched right sides together, and then ironed so that all raw edges are hidden.

Lots of braiding . . .

with a little help from my trusty sewing basket (it makes it easier to braid things if you have a sturdy anchor point) . . .

and the braid is ready to be stitched together.

This time around I wanted a bit of an oblong shape, so I started with this.

And then the fun begins!

 Lots and lots of tiny little stitches holding this rug together!

I will say that if you are going for a true oval shape, you need to be rather extreme with setting up the shape from the center of the rug.

Once I ran out of that purple and green floral, I called it a day with the braiding.  This rug is significantly larger than my first, and it turned out slightly more circular than I anticipated, so next time I will have to remember how circular these things turn out when using a lot of fabric braid!

But I still love the finished product.

It also means I am putting a lot of scrap fabric to good use.  Those bureaus are still stuffed full of plenty more yardage, but I am really enjoying dressing my new home in hand made items.

And, just like the first one, I backed the cotton with felt.  I needed a bit more width than I could find to cover the entire rug, so I pieced the outer edges.

Quilting thread was used to tack the felt in place.  I figure if the felt gets gross or wears out over time, it will be easy to replace.  Meanwhile, the felt is protecting all my hard work with the cotton!

Which brings me to the finished piece.  I am not sure two of something can be considered a collection, but I have a feeling there will be more rag rugs in my future, and I am very pleased with these stash busters.  I may even have plans for the tiny bits left over from this project . . .