What about if you used a lightweight fusible to back the stretch denim? Of course it couldn't be used as a rag quilt.

Wow the is a beautiful quilt tucsonquilter....

I was just thinking of making 5 inch squares and using some kind of flannel that looked kind of western on the back with no batting as I think it will be to heavy with batting in it. Then I was just going to tie it with yarn the same color as the flannel backing.. do you think that would work? I never though of the cathedral window but that sure looks hard and I think the 5 inch squares would be faster and easier for me..

I only washed the quilt once before giving it away and it frayed nicely. Here are two more I made with the same mixture of denim and they both turned out great.

I was a beta tester for a wonderful embroidery designer. I sewed much of the designs on large sections of my old jeans and I ended up with different size blocks. So I just cut them into either 9", 7", or 5" blocks, depending on the design. Isewed the like sizes together in strips going down, then added another size - because it frays it doesn't matter. It turned out gorgeous. I gave it to a raffle for a sick ladies expenses and it made lots of money. Another thing - don't forget to use pockets and belt loops and seams - I made a guy quilt like that and it was a huge success.

[QUOTEI never though of the cathedral window but that sure looks hard and I think the 5 inch squares would be faster and easier for me..[/QUOTE]
I don't think this type of cathedral window is much harder then sewing squares. They are circles of denim, sewn together with the seam allowance folded over on top of a cotton square.

are cathedral window quilts hard to make??? I love this quilt...so pretty

I've made a lot of denim quilts, and the problem with the stretch jeans, is when the quilt is dried. If you dry them in a hot dryer, the spandex kinda disintegrates, and leaves a rippled fabric. The spandex content is only 1%, but it still is an issue. When you have a heavy denim quilt, how would you dry it? On hot, so it won't take too long, right? So, if you do use the stretch denim, just put a label on the quilt to dry it on a low heat setting.

I made my son a denim quilt using the pineapple pattern. I found that any of the denim that was stretchy did not work - at least with this pattern, I cut a strips the same size, but the blocks that I used stretchy denim in had to be recut, as they ended up larger than the others, and I had to recut those blocks. Perhaps it will work better in other patterns.

Quilt-as-you-go denim quilts are EASY!
 

Circle denim quilts are easy, but doing them with octagons, squares and rectangles are even easier.

I just zig-zag the edges, so no clipping. And batting is optional.

I have made several jean quilts and I have found that the stretch jeans do not work as well as the plain cotton. I buy jeans at the thrift stores and also have friends and family save jeans when they are done wearing them.