Advice needed: Jean Quilt or not..
 

Hubby finally went thru my late MIL clothing.. alot are going to be given away to friends and family and the rest will be given to goodwill.. Ive kept her Tshirts and will be making a Tshirt quilts out of them..

However here is my dilemma..

there are A LOT of jeans that i can make a fairly large jean quilt possibly a rag quilt but I have never made a JEAN anything.. How hard is it? will every other word be a profanity as im working on it?!?!?!? I love the idea of making it out of moms jeans but I really dont want to take on a project that im so going to regret. AND feel guilty for ruining a good pair of jeans that someone could of made better use. I know people out there would buy them if I donated them at goodwill..

ADVICE AND HELP NEEDED PLEASE....

any comment you have would be great.. thanks..

I agree with LeslieFost.

denim quilts are not difficult- and they make wonderful raggy quilts! people love them because they are heavy-warm- and there is just a timeless-ness about recycled denim.
my mom (who lived in a lighthouse for a number of years) used to make 15-20 denim patchwork quilts every winter- then sell them in the lighthouse gift shop in the summer -tourist season-
people would snatch them up quick!
she used cotton batting in them (liked them --meaty) with squares- of denim top and bottom- 1//2"seams- double stitched. she made mostly twins- use a good new sharp (or denim) needle- and good strong thread- they are no more difficult than any other cotton fabric.

Don't be afraid of making a jean quilt, i would use the largest square you can, and save some labels to see if you would want an embellishment. I would use a medium-heavier weight cotton, like a thinner duck cloth for the backing. If a quilt made out of her jeans will bring happy memories, I say yes, go ahead and do it.

keep the jeans and at least cut them up...and decide after that.

jean quilts are super warm!

It's not hard to make a denim rag quilt. I made a denim/flannel rag quilt last year for my nephew's half brother. I did not use any type of batting - the denim makes it heavy enough. I kept the flannel (and fringe) to the front and the denim to the back. Layer a flannel square on top of a denim square, right sides OUT. Then sew an "X" on the square to keep the layers together. If you wanted, you could sew anything in the square, but an "X" is the easiest. Watch out for seams - I accidentally left a few seams in the denim squares and they were hard to sew over. Word of warning - make sure you have good tools. It's a pain to cut the fringe, but if you've got good scissors or snips it's not too bad - just time consuming. I had better luck with scissors than the spring-loaded snips, but I know many people prefer the snips. Also, plan on spending a few hours (and dollars :-)) at the laundry mat to "fluff" the fringe because a lot of lint is produced and could hurt your washer/drier. I put one quarter in the dryer at a time and emptied the lint trap each quarter. Just take a book or some handwork with you.

But like a prior poster said, if the jeans don't have special meaning and you're not into making a rag quilt, it's okay to pass them onto Goodwill.

My only caution is that jeans quilts are very very heavy. They can be very difficult to make due to the weight- but otherwise they are pretty easy. Also, a bed size quilt can trap a small child (not literally trap, but really weigh them down). I love the look of them (especially if you leave the pockets on them) but their weight has made me decide to skip them- a regular quilt already hurts my shoulders/neck.

Very heavy and aggrivating to work with. The idea sounds good but in my opinion too much trouble. Cut one pair up and make a pillow and give the rest to Goodwill.