I've mentioned my habit of saving old jeans and making new things with them, like patches and bags. It all started when a friend was making a quilt, and I thought that would be a good idea someday. But the idea of sewing over that many thick denim seams was daunting, and most pictures I saw of all-denim quilts looked a little drab. Finally I found inspiration:
Lucy's Stained Glass Denim Quilt. The solution to thick denim seams? Only sew denim to a lighter sashing! The contrasting color solved the drabness. And I really liked the variety of sizes of her squares. But our stock of jeans didn't include 12"x12" pieces. So I fell back on the old Disappearing Nine Patch pattern, though I cut each piece separately, and added lavender sashing throughout.
I thought I'd finish off a box of denim pieces, then move on to the pile of uncut jeans. I didn't even use the whole box, and this is a full-size quilt. Ah, more canvas for the future. I think this would look good in a baby size with rainbow-colored scrappy sashing, but I'm not ready to do it yet.
I quilted it with straight lines around the big blocks, and fancy butterflies (from Grandma O's embroidery files) in variegated thread. You have to look pretty closely to see some of the colors, but it was fun to use the different threads.
Just as the denim front came from the family's old jeans, we sort of created the backing together. Last summer, we ice-dyed some shirts. It's a fun
process--you should try it.
I rolled up a thrifted sheet and put it under the shirts' rack to soak up the extra dye. The colors are more subtle than the ones on the shirts, but they are pretty. I used the sheet for the back of the quilt.
It's a heavy blanket, and has already kept us warm for some cool spring soccer games. Also, I think most of us will be able to sit on it for picnics. This quilt has some rough spots, and won't win any awards. But I'm pleased that I could use this leftover fabric and sew the vision in my head!
No comments:
Post a Comment