Denim Quilt

If you've been hanging around here very long you've seen the basket of denim scraps taking up space in my 'progress' reports. I've been adding to it for months as I collect worn out jeans from family members. It didn't take long to end up with what felt like a huge pile - I guess it helps that we tend to wear denim to work and wear out the thighs and/or knees while the rest of the material hardly seems used!

Last week I was feeling discouraged about my other projects, so - as usual - I thought I'd start on something new instead. I figured I'd dig through the basket of denim scraps and piece together the smallest pieces. I knew I had some that were less than 5 inches square, and I figured at the very least I could stitch those together into something nearer in size to the larger pieces. It sounded like a great way to get the denim quilt idea a little farther down the line toward 'finished' without getting too sucked in to another massive project.

By the time I went to bed I had three stripes of pieced denim, each one about 20 by 60. Whoops!

I didn't really have a plan when I started the process, and I continued in that mode the whole time.

Most of the pieces got stitched together facing in first (like usual), then immediately opened up and top stitched with a very slight allowance (my goal was for the stitches to line up, and I was pretty close most of the time). Since I was working on no plan and no budget, I used this as an opportunity to burn through some left over thread colors. So the top is stitched in two colors of green, two colors of blue, a little bit of black, some white, and some gray - but between the different colors of denim and different colors of stitching on the denim, all the different colors hardly stand out.

I did try to space out the pockets somewhat - and to put them 'facing' all directions. That wasn't easy - but it was easier than trying to space out the colors of denim! I wish I'd had a little more of the darkest wash, but I'm not going to wait to wear through my new jeans just for a little more dark denim in the top!

I haven't measured it, but just throwing it around - and carrying it around - I get the feeling I've hit about the size I'd want for a picnic blanket. It still needs squared up - which shouldn't take long - and I need to decide what to back it with - which will take longer - but I'm very happy with the result so far. And I'm not the only one - even though this one has been made with someone else in mind, my husband is voting that this one stays with us (as if we need another quilt around here!) and I make something else for the intended recipient.



We'll see what happens, but just for him, I'm in talks to get some more denim. I wonder if I can find some one looking to get rid of thread as well? Never know what I can find on craigslist...