Recycle Jeans to Make a Quilt

This basket has been sitting in my closet for years,

collecting all the jeans and flannel shirts that have been discarded for one reason or another.

Frankly, I'm sick of moving the basket from one location to another to get it out of the way.

It's time to recycle this pile into something useful.

Did you know jeans make great quilts?

If you try this, you'll want to use heavy duty scissors like the one pictured above.

The spring loaded handle makes it easy to cut through heavy fabrics.

After the seams have been removed, the fabric can be easily cut into blocks.

Generally, I cut my blocks into 7" squares, 5" squares, and 3" x 7" blocks.

I have found these sizes to work best for me.

This pile can now be made into a quilt.

If you decide to make a quilt be sure to purchase a denim needle.

It will save you a ton of grief!

This raggy edge baby quilt was made with denim on one side and flannel on the other.

Here is a peek at the back of the quilt.

This picnic size quilt was also made with the raggy edge method.

The squares have jean fabric on one side and cotton print on the other.

The squares were laid out in a pattern where some cotton blocks

 faced the front and others the back.

This denim quilt was made with the trip around the world pattern
and was one of the first quilts I made.
Details are posted here.



The back of this quilt was lined with flannel.

Hopefully this gives you some ideas to get started on your own jean quilt project.
If you have already made a denim quilt, please send me a link.
I'd love to see it!

Just a reminder that this months Friday Night Sew In is right around the corner.

Be sure to mark your calendar and join us on Friday, March 18th!

May you always Sew in Peace!

Sandra

Jean Quilt Makeover

It doesn't look like much, but this denim blaket has been through a makeover. I originally made this quilt for my son-in-law about ten years ago, on a sewing machine I hated. I fought with every stitch and seam, and the fact that the denim was so heavy added to the difficulty. I was just beginning my quilting journey, so I decided to simply knot it and used a plain cotton on the back.

Last year when I asked him what he would like for his birthday, my son-in-law asked if I could repair his blanket. He loved this blanket!  In fact he loved it so much that the backing was raggy and falling apart. Hmmm....what was to be done?

When I determined that it was worth the effort to repair it, I decided to remove all the old backing and replaced it with a striped flannel. The original blanket had quilt batting, so after the flannel was pinned to the top, it was a candidate for machine quilting.

I left the original knotting in place and simply machine quilted around the yarn. If you attempt machine quilting on denim, I highly suggest using special denim needles like "Schmetz Denim Needles" available at stores like JoAnn Fabrics.

I am very pleased with how it turned out!

 Better than I imagined!

Denim Baby Quilt

This denim quilt was made as a team effort by my sister-in-law and I. The quilt was made to celebrate the birth of a great-nephew. (I can't believe I'm old enough to have a great-nephew! LOL) We sewed squares of denim to flannel, and alternated the pattern so the back is a mirror immage of the front. No batting was used for this project. If you are considering making a denim quilt, it really helps to use a special needle designed for sewing denim.