Denim: From Jeans to Quilt

It's true: I hate to waste. When I noticed the pile of jeans that we no longer wore, I started to think of ways to reuse them in some way, any way.

Despite my lack of sewing skills, I have been busy this fall creating a bunch of somethings out of jeans we no longer wear. {These jeans were not able to be passed on to others due to holes or broken zippers. As I am not overtly skilled at fixing them, I decided to repurpose the material.}

The bags were first. You can see them here and here.

Then, I decided to mix it up a bit and try some quilting. Can you tell I've never done anything large scale like this before? I seriously thought I'd just try it out. Ah, yeah.

For about two months, I pieced together segments of the jeans. I had no pattern or direction. Nothing was measured. I cut straight squares and rectangles. Then, I simply spread out the different denim pieces, arranged them until they looked nice, and sewed straight seams.

Once the top was completed, I pinned the batting and the back side together. For the underside, I used an old blanket which was literally falling apart at the seams, but the material was still good.

It was at this point that I got the notion to give it to my Drummer husband for Christmas. Um, yeah, it was just two weeks away.

After frantically checking various sites, I settled on a plan to finish the blanket. First, I traced a star cookie cutter onto a few squares. I used a white pencil the children had. Sewing around the star was tricky for me. So, I added stripes to some blocks. A straight stitch was easier. Intermixing the stripes and stars in a haphazard pattern helped 'complete' the look.

By the time I stitched the stars and stripes, I had two working days left. {Two days when the Drummer would be away and I could work on the quilt. It is hard to surprise someone if they see what you are working on.}

Reading some pointers and tips, I started binding up the edges. {Love bloggers who know how to really do something and share it in detail. Notice I'm not giving you step by step, because I don't know how to really quilt.}

A few years ago, my mom had given us some fabric scraps she no longer needed. I found one which matched the blanket and used it. Since it was a green print with stars on it, it was perfect.

While the Drummer was chaperoning a youth group outing, I spent the evening completing the quilt. Thankfully, I finished it and wrapped it ten minutes before he got home.

All in all, my go at quilting was full of redo's and places I should have redone, but overall I am greatly pleased. {The Drummer's response? Well, he's quite impressed with it.}

Will I give it another go? Not for awhile, and certainly not with such a time crunch!
~ Dorie


P.S. Here is where I collect tips and pointers for sewing.