I know that I have told you in the past that I volunteer for a charity called Project Linus. Since the horrific tornado that tore through Joplin, Missouri, I have been working like crazy to make quilts for my charity. I am now even signed up to do the quilting for the blanket drive on June 25, 2011. I am very excited to see what all of those wonderful ladies have come up with for this blanket drive!
One of the nice things about belonging to Project Linus is that we get a lot of donations of fabric and other things that help us make these blankets. We have recently received several boxes of denim jeans and have been at a loss as to what we were going to do with them. Some of them were stained and we couldn't drop them off at the Goodwill store, so I suggested that we cut out the parts that weren't stained and patch them together into crazy quilts!
The first attempt that I made wasn't as successful as I had hoped it would be. I used and old twin sized quilt as my guide and started laying the denim pieces on top of the old quilt, but when I started sewing the pieces together, they were all crooked. So I had to come up with a different plan. . .
How to make a denim crazy quilt without pulling out your hair:
Supplies:
Sewing machine
Thread
Seam ripper
12x12 Quilters square (optional, but highly recommended)
Rotary Cuter and Mat
Old denim jeans
Scrap fabric
The first thing I did was to cut the denim up and lay it out on the table. I then sewed the pieces together and then used my 12 x 12 quilters square to straighten out the edges.
The next step is pretty simple. You are going to use scrap fabric to cover up the seams and applique it to the top using either a zig zag stitch, or if you have a machine that does decorative stitches, then use that to edge the fabric. First you will need to cut the strips down to approximately 1 inch in width. You can cut them wider or more narrow if you prefer.
As you can see, these are two different quilts. The one on the left was made using the squaring method and the one on the right was made using the other method that I mentioned above. Both are great examples of how to lay the fabric on top of the denim and applique it down.
Once you have the desired amount of finished squares for the size of quilt you are making, sew the squares together making sure that the pattern is pleasing to the eye.
You can use either the tie method or the sewing method for quilting. I used the tie method because denim is very thick, but if you would like to sew it, I recommend "stitch in the ditch" (ie: sew in or near the seams of your squares) and sew very slowly using a needle made for use with denim.
I hope you have enjoyed this project. I wish you the best of luck on your project.
One of the nice things about belonging to Project Linus is that we get a lot of donations of fabric and other things that help us make these blankets. We have recently received several boxes of denim jeans and have been at a loss as to what we were going to do with them. Some of them were stained and we couldn't drop them off at the Goodwill store, so I suggested that we cut out the parts that weren't stained and patch them together into crazy quilts!
The first attempt that I made wasn't as successful as I had hoped it would be. I used and old twin sized quilt as my guide and started laying the denim pieces on top of the old quilt, but when I started sewing the pieces together, they were all crooked. So I had to come up with a different plan. . .
How to make a denim crazy quilt without pulling out your hair:
Supplies:
Sewing machine
Thread
Seam ripper
12x12 Quilters square (optional, but highly recommended)
Rotary Cuter and Mat
Old denim jeans
Scrap fabric
The first thing I did was to cut the denim up and lay it out on the table. I then sewed the pieces together and then used my 12 x 12 quilters square to straighten out the edges.
 |
| 1. Denim Scraps for Crazy Quilt |
 |
| 2. Denim scraps sewn together. |
 |
| Use the quilters square to "square" the fabric making a 12x12 inch square. |
The next step is pretty simple. You are going to use scrap fabric to cover up the seams and applique it to the top using either a zig zag stitch, or if you have a machine that does decorative stitches, then use that to edge the fabric. First you will need to cut the strips down to approximately 1 inch in width. You can cut them wider or more narrow if you prefer.
 |
As you can see, these are two different quilts. The one on the left was made using the squaring method and the one on the right was made using the other method that I mentioned above. Both are great examples of how to lay the fabric on top of the denim and applique it down.
Once you have the desired amount of finished squares for the size of quilt you are making, sew the squares together making sure that the pattern is pleasing to the eye.
 |
| Square method. |
 |
Layout method mentioned above. This method is a huge pain in the butt, but it makes a cool looking quilt |
You can use either the tie method or the sewing method for quilting. I used the tie method because denim is very thick, but if you would like to sew it, I recommend "stitch in the ditch" (ie: sew in or near the seams of your squares) and sew very slowly using a needle made for use with denim.
I hope you have enjoyed this project. I wish you the best of luck on your project.
Happy Sewing!!!
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