Originally Posted by
Jordan
I am starting to make a rag quilt out of old denim jeans and I am questioning myself of what to put in the middle. I have flannel along with the denim jeans but not sure what to use in middle. I had planned on using squares of W&N but someone told me that is too heavy. Then a friend showed me her rag quilt that she didn't put anything in the middle and said it has no warmth at all. Now I am confused?!!
Also-what size would be good to cut the jean squares? I have read that I need to take a 1/2" seam allowance and I have cut some denim already at 6 1/2" squares-is that too small?
I am looking forward to any suggestions and advice from anyone that has mastered a nice rag quilt
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I really enjoy making rag quilts in spite of all that snipping you must do. I made up to now a whole bunch of them mostly in cotton flannel with quilting cotton for some detailed patchwork shapes set within a all 100 percent cotton flannel front and back block. All are only 2 layers thick as we both reside in the Southwestern part of the United States. They prove to be plenty warm and much easier to sew and wash in even our home washer (we have no dryer-we hang outside). Each quilt has the added benefit of protecting the user from cold draft as my residence is a almost 100 years old complete with uncaulked windows, lots of small holes even on the floors here and there. </dd><dd style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 3px; color: rgb(54, 47, 45); font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(252, 250, 240);">
I have only made 1 small denim (jean) rag quilt and I still use it on my mother's bed. It has survived a rough beating with the pets, old age issues like incontinence, and being dragged about at times by both pets or her own forgetfulness. I'm sure yours will do as well as mine have done with some careful considerations built in during planning & construction.
I sewed the background patchwork as small as 1" square (minus seam allowances) and had no problems if I use at the very least 1/2 inch seams (never anything smaller). I prefer and mostly use 1 inch seam allowance and went a bit further than that as my last quilt had around 1 1/2 inch huge seam allowances for a change in it's looks. I actually liked it a bit more than the others even though it used far more fabric than even the 1 inch seams ones blocks do. I liked that super stand out effect after it's fluffing out of the seam allowances after machine washing & machine drying at the local laundromat. I never wash the newly made or even newer rag quilts at home until it goes through several cycles at the laundromat. Even newer houses have to protect their pipes from getting clogged. Going to the laundromat does this even though you have to pay upfront. Far better & cheaper there than calling the plumber later!
If you have an question or need to choose which way to proceed in sewing up your quilt this is what I do: make a sample or prototype. I sew a sample block or unit of the design I have in mind. I make sure to do everything I plan to do to the blocks and the actual seam allowance I chose to use. I run through a wash/dry cycle and see how it looks. Then I either use the construction techniques that I used in that sample prototype block with the exact seam allowances intended for the quilt. Never failed me and actually saved me lots of money as I know it will work the way I want it to before even cutting into the fabric. The sample block does not go into waste as I use it as a "keepsake" to show people how the actual quilt looks and feels without taking a large quilt everywhere with me!</dd><dd style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 3px; color: rgb(54, 47, 45); font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(252, 250, 240);">
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