We have a son in college, and he has a new girl friend. I figured it was a good time to make his jean quilt with his high school jeans.
For each square, I cut a front, a back and the batting, which is 1 inch smaller
sandwich batting between a front and a back square
Sew from one corner diagonally to the other corner.
Repeat, forming an x on each square. Congratulations, you have just quilted that square, and it holds the batting in place.
finished squares sewn together . . .
Our son served a mission for our church in Bolivia and spent several months in a remote village. He only had 1 pair of jeans with him to wear. I used 80% of that pair in this quilt
Those jeans have a lot of tender memories, and give the most character for the quilt.
stats and a few important things to remember:
finished: 60 x 70
20 blocks, 15 inches square
It takes 5-7 pairs of jeans (depending on how long the legs are)
use denim needles 90/14
use 4 color catchers in the washing
With traditional rag quilts, you clip the seams every 1/2 inch or so to create the raggy look, but since jeans fray so well, I just wanted the frayed look. A few washings took care of that.
Note to self:
After jean/flannel quilt is sewn and ready for washing, fold the quilt in 1/2, flannel sides facing each other (fold longer ends together so that your quilt is long, it will spin better in your washer).
Sew around the 3 open edges with a large stitch. Then wash. Undo stitching after washing and drying complete. This will alleviate HOURS of time having to "de-pill" your flannel side (I may or may not have learned that by experience)
How about you? have you ever made a jean quilt? do you have any tips to add? Leave me a comment if you're interested in this giveaway.
linked:
finish it friday
whoop
I've never made a jean quilt, but what a wonderful remberance for your son.
ReplyDeleteI have made three Jean quilts. Remember that they are heavy. The first one I made was queen size. It was incredibly heavy and didn't even have batting.
ReplyDeletei made a rag quilt from flannel , lots of fuss in the washer
ReplyDeleteI love the jean quilt you made for your son. I have made at least a dozen jean quilts but it has been ten or so years since I made the last one. My only suggestion is to take the quilt to the Laundromat for laundering the rag quilts the first few times. I also made some jean quilts with wool applique which I free-motion quilted. My daughter's friends still tell me that they are using them. Thanks for the opportunity to enter the giveaway. (shirparks@gmail.com)
ReplyDeleteThat is one awesome quilt!!!! I've never made a jean quilt before but one day I'd love to!!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful quilt, it holds many sweet memories!
ReplyDeleteThank you for these hints and tips! I've never made a jean quilt. I did one rage quilt and hated it because of all the snipping with scissors. I should have made it like you suggested, with the batting smaller. I had batting sticking out that had to be snipped, too. Hard work! Better to use denim's natural tendency to fray.
ReplyDeleteI have made several and also have stacks of jeans ready for another one. One tip I found helpful was to put a couple of tennis balls in the dryer with the quilt to help it get "raggier".... I love using a variety of plaids as well. The last one I made, I tried using your raggy binding technique.
ReplyDeleteI made a pair of jean quilt once, but I made them with traditional piecing rather than the rag style. I love the pattern you came up with and all the extra pockets and patched you included!
ReplyDeleteTo date I've made 25 denim quilts. I make one every year for a fundraiser; my husband, children, and grandpuppy each have at least one each; and one person who often wins the quilt at the fundraiser sometimes commissions them. I started with simple squares and tied the first dozen or so. I've since ventures to other layouts and I now quilt them on my domestic machine. I prefer my grandmother's 1929 Singer for piecing and quilting. That machine sews through almost anything! It has a lovely straight stitch. My tip is to cut and sew a larger seam allowance. I tend to use a 1/2" seam allowance. This will help the quilt stand up to lots of use, and I love to see my quilts in use.
ReplyDeleteI've never made a jeans quilt. Tomorrow I will ask my daughters to save my grandsons' jeans so I can get started.
ReplyDeleteGreat quilt! I've never made a jean quilt - I usually use the old pairs to mend the not so old ones!!
ReplyDeletewhat a nice quilt ! I really like your block and those pops of orange are great.Thanks so much for sharing your method and your tips. I started a jean quilt some time ago. I put the brakes on after describing to a friend that I was making it with really good , heavy flannel and adding batting. She told me that a quilt of that weight would ruin my front loading washing machine. So, now that I have heard otherwise from you, maybe I'll continue on with the lap sized quilt this winter.
ReplyDeleteI love this! I've never made a jean quilt - to be honest, sewing with denim makes me a little nervous. But I just love your method.
ReplyDeleteI've never made a jean quilt, but I do upcycle jeans for other projects!
ReplyDeleteI love you Jean quit. It is beautiful and has so much character. The worn out denim and the different size patches make it even more amazing. I've always wanted to repurpose jeans into a quilt, but I hadn't figure out how. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteThe plaid shining through the wore down jean patches is such a wonderful feature. What a special way to treasure your son's experience!
ReplyDeleteI started a jeans quilt but ended up giving my jeans stash to 2 ladies i know who put it to use. Good tips on washing, thanks. Thanks for the give away.
ReplyDeleteI have never made a jean quilt, but yours is fabulous! I need to get busy on a t-shirt quilt.
ReplyDeleteI have never made a jean quilt, and you have inspired me to try this. I LOVE the idea of using flannel (if you've got old jeans, you've probably got some old flannel shirts!) for the backing, and quilting as you go! Thanks for this wonderful tutorial. And congratulations on your son - you obviously have raised a wonderful young man!
ReplyDeleteNot made anything with repurposed denim but I have made several rag quilts. My tip is to wash it inside a pillow case so the threads don't clog your sewing machine and/or dryer!!
ReplyDeleteI have never made one but love the way they look and have probably saved enough jeans to complete a quilt by now :) I like the way you put it together too. I don't understand your one tip of sewing the 3 sides... Three sides of what? It is probably something I would get if I had actually done it I bet!
ReplyDeleteI have made my teenage (at the time) grand-daughters a jeans quilt each, but didn't bother adding the batting. Just denim on top and flannel underneath. That worked fine. Also made them a bag out of the top of a pair of jeans each - they loved that! Once again, lined with flannel.
ReplyDeleteI love it! I'm a fan of making Jean quilts using a variety of square sizes (like you did) because there seems to be less waste that way.
ReplyDeleteI love it! I'm a fan of making Jean quilts using a variety of square sizes (like you did) because there seems to be less waste that way.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great detailed post. I've got some old jeans laying around in case inspiration strikes, but I haven't sewn with them yet. I love that you included all the interesting bits from the jeans: pockets and zippers and labels. Great washing tips, too! Thanks!
ReplyDelete