Tuesday, September 16, 2014

How to make a quilt from your jeans and denim skirts


Denim quilt made using nine patch option


After making these two denim quilts from old jeans and flannels that I have saved for years, I still have denim left!
Denim quilt made using four patch option



You can read more about these denim and flannel quilts at my How to Recycle Your Old Jeans to Make a Denim Picnic Blanket post.

I have a downloadable pattern available at Double Nickel Quilts or Craftsy.






The backs of the quilts are all denim-
















I had several denim skirts and dresses and really didn't want to cut all that fabric into small squares so I came up with this idea! The front of each block is made from a four patch of denim squares


 and the back of the block is made from one large square.


This is a close-up of the front.

I did not add batting but you could. The quilt is very heavy without it. I made it to be a utilitarian quilt that can thrown on the ground. The raw edges ravel after washing. How much depends on the denim.

Here's how I made my quilt-

1. Cut 6" squares from jeans and 12 1/2" squares from denim skirts.

2. Sewed four 6" squares together to make four patch blocks. Ironed the seams open to make
    them lay flatter.

3. Centered four patch blocks on 12 1/2" denim squares, wrong sides together and sewed across
    blocks diagonally to secure the layers. I used orange thread just for the fun of it!

4. Sewed the blocks together with a 1/2" seam. Pressed the seam flat and stitched close to the edge to
    cover the edge of the four patch.
    I did not sew my blocks together in rows. I never do! I sewed it together in four sections. Since my
    quilt is 7 blocks across and 7 blocks down, all four sections were different sizes.
    For example, if your quilt is 6 blocks across and 6 blocks down, you would make 4 nine patch  
    blocks for your four sections.

5. Turned down the outside edges of the quilt to the front of the quilt (1/2") and stitched next to the
     raw edge.

I still have denim left! Maybe I can figure out another way to use it.