denim quilt???
 

I have a lot of old jeans that are the stretch kind of denim.Can you use them in a blue jean quilt?

Thanks

Yes, but they are heavy when finished. I like the look of them, the different shading is really pretty.

I've started one. Personally, I could not cut up the jeans using scissors or rotary cutter -- way too hard on my hands! I pulled out an electric scissors I bought many years ago, and that worked very well to cut up the jeans. It is fast and easy on my hands. However, I still had to rotary cut the denim into shapes. My advice is to get a pair of electric scissors for taking the jeans apart, then take your time cutting the shapes out of denim so you don't stress your hands too much. Almost all of my jeans are stretch denim and I think they will work fine in a quilt. However, I don't think stretch denim will fray the way non-stretch frays. You might want to take that into account when you choose a pattern. Or you may want to send some pieces through with your laundry multiple times to see if the edges fray or not.

There are some wonderful ideas on the net if you Google "denim quilts" and then hit images.

Prism - I wonder if the spring type scissors that you use to snip rag quilts would make an easier job of cutting up the jeans.

I also have a ton of old jeans. I'm looking forward to seeing what you make.

you can use the stretch denim in a quilt, but it doesn't work well for a rag quilt because of the polyester in it...........

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This quilt has stretch denim in it -- the edges won't fray but that is ok by me.

When my stretch jeans get dried in a hot dryer, the fabric gets these warped wrinkles in them. Same with a denim quilt. If you use denim with spandex, put a label on the quilt that says not to dry it in a hot dryer.

Thanks everyone, i guess I will keep these and not give them to the Salvation Army, I just didn't know how the stretch ones would work. Thank all for your help..dunster.. I do have a spring type pair of scissors and will have to try them..Thanks for the heads up on this..

also the jeans have been washed many times in very hoy water so I don't think it will be a problem with washing the quilt after it is done..

Once ou get the jeans cut apart. I cut the squares with my GO. I only cut one layer at a time, but it's still faster than scissors.

Nammie to 7--Love your quilt. It looks so cozy. Nice job on it!

I really like the look of this. I know it was a lot of work.

Beautiful quilt!

I'm in the process of making a jeans quilt. Nothing as elaborate as cathedral windows, just different sized rectangles and squares. I read somewhere that sewing denim to denim can be difficult and so I've been putting strips of décor weight cotton fabric in between. I'll post a picture once it is finished.

Because of the weight, I think I'm going to back it with a flannel or similar but forego the batting.

Love your quilt. what did you back it with.

That is the kind of quilt I made with regular denim and cotton inside. Was yours really heavy? To put mine together I cut 2 circles and sewed them together, so I had the extra cotton material on the inside, which if you used just a square of cotton the inside yours would be a little lighter, but not much. When I tried to take a nap under it, it was so heavy that I felt like that lady in the commercial, "Help, I've fallen and I can get up." Additionally, the quilt isn't very warm. I figured for all of the weight it should have been warmer than it is.

By the way, what is the name of this pattern?

As for using stretch denim, it should work just like regular denim; you just have to be sure that the material can take a hot iron, at least as hot as you need for cotton. So, don't give that denim away.

tessagin, this type of quilt doesn't need a backing; the denim forms the backing. Here is a link to a two-minute tutorial that shows how the cathedral window effect is achieved:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_hKEDmxQwM

I made a denim rag quilt for my nephew years ago...front denim, back flannel....He loved it....BUT it was sooo heavy...he mainly used it as a ground cover, when camping, ..etc

I have 3 books on using jeans and there are so many things patterns and ideas I do not remember her name but just google the junk jeans lady and I am sure you will find her and you should be able to find some of her books on ebay or amazon she even uses the loops on the waste band in projects I have been to several of her demos but that was several years ago in fact you may even be able to find a video on you tube good luck and have fun

Yes you can make quilts from old jeans. My SIL has made several, including helping another SIL make quilts for her 4 children out of her DH's old jeans, as a memory quilt. They are heavy, however, she used square patches of jeans, including pockets, with flannel backing, no batting. I can tell you that although heavy, they are nice and warm on cold winter nights. They reminded me of the heavy quilts and blankets I had growing up in a drafty, old house where snow was known to come in the windows if the wind was in a certain direction. Somehow having all those weighty blankets and quilts made me feel snug as a bug on those cold winter nights.

I had some jeans I was planning to cut up. Last year at retreat I won a pack of 5" denim squares someone had donated. I think there are 300 squares. Not sure what I am going to make with them yet. I think there are 4 different colors. I gave my collection of jeans to someone in my guild. She can cut them up. I cheated and got someone else to do it for me:-)

My mom made several small denim quilts for my sister's wedding. They were used to cover hay bales for seating. She also made some larger round ones to be used for table coverings.

What she did was "ice dye" some white fabric and use squares of that to lighten up the pieced top, and then used it for the backing. She also used lighter weight pants--dress pants, etc. Made it not quite as heavy as an all-denim quilt.

The squares were cut 6" squares, and there are 7 across and seven down (so 49 squares). It's not heavy at all.

I took a photo, but it doesn't do it justice at all :/

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