How to make denim quilts

 Do you find yourself hoarding denim jeans because they don't fit or you don't like them anymore but they are too good to throw away?  One option is obviously to give them to a charity shop, but another option is to make them into a denim quilt.

The size of the blocks is limited by the size of the jeans that you are cutting up.  I found that I could get much larger strips from my son's leftover jeans than I could from my daughter's jeans.  I settled for 4.1/2" blocks so that I could use several different sizes of jeans to give some variety in the colour of my denim quilt.

 I cut away the seams and hems - no point in trying to unpick those seams with several layers of stitching.  I usually try and save the zips, but that ends up a bit like my fabric stash:  the zip I need for a project is never quite the same size or colour as anything in my zip collection.

Having cut panels of fabric from several pairs of denim jeans, I then cut them into strips of 4.1/2" width.  These are cut into strips 8.1/2" long and 4.1/2" squares:  2 squares for each 8.1/2" strip.

 With right sides together and using a 1/4" seam, sew two squares together and then sew the resulting strip to an 8.1/2" strip.  this creates the basic 8" denim quilt block.  for this quilt I used 5 rows of 5 denim quilt blocks (25 quilt blocks in all).  I used a pocket for one of the blocks, so I made 24 quilt blocks as shown.

Denim is obviously much thicker than quilting fabric.  When I was chain sewing the blocks together, I found that as the needle moved from one block to the next the denim would not move forward smoothly.  Pressing down with my index finger just to the left of the needle helps solve this problem, because I was pushing the fabric down onto the machine feet so that they grab the fabric and move it forward.

I was worried by the thought of very bulky seams, so I pressed the seams open.  That's also the reason that I put sashing between the denim quilt blocks.

 For the pocket quilt block, I could not cut a big enough piece of fabric round the pocket to make an 8.1/2" square so I measured the size of the square that I did have (6") and added strips of denim round the edges to make the square up to 8.1/2".  That meant adding 3" strips because of seam allowances.

When I had 25 blocks I laid them out and moved them round a bit so that the different colours were distributed fairly evenly.  the sashing is made from strips 1.1/2" wide by 8" long.  I needed 20 of these to sew between the denim quilt blocks.

 working from the left hand block of the top row, add a strip of sashing to the right side of the first denim quilt block and then sew the next quilt block to this sashing.  Continue across the row.  You should end up with 5 denim quilt blocks connected by 4 strips of sashing, with no sashing at either end of the row.  this will be added later.

do the same with the next 5 denim quilt blocks to make the 2nd row.  I usually put the pocket block in the middle of the 3rd row.  Keep going until you have 5 rows of denim quilt blocks.

In order to join the rows together you will need sashing the length of each row - about 44".  this is just longer than 1 strip across the width of the fabric so you will need to join 2 pieces of 1.1/2" strip and you will need 6 strips to join all the rows and have a strip at the top and bottom of the denim quilt top.

 Sew a strip of sashing across the top and bottom of the 3rd row.  I find it easiest to start with this row as it has to be in the middle because of the pocket.  It doesn't matter then if you change the order of the other rows as you are sewing.

Sew the 2nd and 4th rows above and below and add a strip of sashing above and below them.  Add the 1st and 5th rows and again add sashing above and below.  You should now have 5 rows of denim quilt blocks beginning and ending with sashing but with no sashing down the sides.

Measure the length of the denim quilt top - it should be about 46.1/2".  Cut 2 lengths of sashing and add down each side.  That's the denim quilt top complete.

 For this denim quilt I decided to bring the backing fabric forward as self binding, so I cut the backing fabric about 2.1/2" wider than the denim quilt top all the way round.  So if your quilt top measures 46.1/2" square, you will need to cut the backing 51.1/2" square.  The wadding only needs to be slightly larger than the denim quilt top to allow for any shrinkage when quilting.

I quilted about 1/4" away from the seam.  Trim the wadding to the quilt top and trim the backing to about 2" beyond the denim quilt top.

To make the binding on the straight edges, fold the raw edge of the backing in to the edge of the denim quilt top.  Then take the fold and pull it over the edge of the quilt top by about 1/4".  Sew in place.

 For the corners, it helps to cut off a triangle to give a smoother corner.  Cut the triangle to leave about 1/4" of backing fabric beyond the corner of the quilt top.  Fold that diagonal edge down over the corner and then fold the edges leading up to the corner twice as you have been doing on the straight edge.

You now have an attractive, durable denim quilt and you have also recycled several pairs of jeans.