Denim Quilt - Thread to Use
 

Hi, I have done very little true quilting. A small baby blanket, a little piece work here and there. I'm now taking on a king-size denim quilt. Well, first I'm going to make it as a duvet cover and if it's not too heavy I'll add batting and actually quilt it.

For now I'm just worried about thread for the seams. I've read that with quilts it's best to use 100% cotton thread instead of polyester. Is that true? Do I need to use a 12 weight thread for my piecing?

I never actually sew denim to denim; the denim blocks are all separated by a black Kona cotton strip.

The jeans I'm using are of course a variety of shades. Not sure if I should go with grey, black, a medium blue, or try to match the different shades of denim.

Thanks for any input.

I use 100% cotton thread on my denim quilts, because I try to use 100% cotton denim. More specifically, I use a medium blue Metler Silk Finish color #789. But I think you could probably use a polyester thread with denim. I don't like to use denim top-stitch thread. That stuff never looks good on the back, and is hard on your machine.

I think 12 weight would be way too heavy. I have made lots of denim bags and used a 40 wt.

Thanks for pointing me away from the 12 weight. I am looking into the Mettler and also the 40wt King Tut thread.

12 wt definitely too heavy...40 wt is whist I use with denim...

I've made denim quilts with cotton and poly threads, both work just fine. 12 weight is WAY too heavy for piecing. I generally use 40, 50 or 60 weight thread for all my piecing unless I'm working with fine fabrics/thread then I use 100 weight silk threat

Yep I would go with a forty weight for regular jeans sewing but maybe 35 for tops stitching seams to look cute.

I used 40 weight when I made a quilt top using denim. King Tut thread has gotten lots of good reviews here on QB.

Thanks for all the help. One more question. How do I know how many yards I'll need? Is there a rule of thumb? A calculator on the internet? I have no idea how many yards a king size quilt will take.

Thanks!

I have used regular "all purpose" threads for sewing denim -

I mostly use the "old" cotton covered polyester Coats & Clark Dual Duty thread - because that's what I have on hand.

It has worked very well for me.

To give an answer to that - one needs more information -

What are the dimensions for the finished size?

What size pieces will you be using?

The smaller the pieces, the more total yardage will be needed.

I'd use a Blue variegated thread -- I love Aurifil 50 weight for both piecing & quilting (Stonewashed Denim #3770 is nice: http://www.redrockthreads.com/aurifi...-varmako50.asp). The nice thing about 50wt thread is that it is thinner so you don't notice any minor mistakes in the quilting like you would with a heavier weight thread (like a 12wt).

The only thing you might use a 12wt thread for as a beginner is if you plan to tie your quilt. 12wt would work nicely for that. Or you could use embroidery floss like Aurifloss.

Standard size for a king quilt is 106x94, but could vary a bit depending on the size of your blocks. I would recommend you pick a pattern to work off of since you are fairly new to this. There are many traditional patterns available for free online. There are plenty of quilting books available & typically big box stores like Joann and Hobby Lobby carry a few paper patterns -- usually McCall's. I have not made a patchwork quilt out of denim, but a good friend from college had one that was made from all her and her siblings' old jeans. It was hand-tied with red embroidery floss and was just beautiful.

Personally, I prefer to work with denim-print 100% cotton quilting fabric rather than true denim. It is a whole lot easier and gives me a close enough look for my applique. That said, I have worked with denim before & the most important tip I would share is to make sure you buy PLENTY of denim needles for your sewing machine for the piecing work. You want to match the needle size to your thread weight. I use Microtex needles for quilting with a bit of denim (I use denim sparingly), but find I need to change out my needle much more often.

I believe the quilt I am making will be 108 x 112 without pulling the pattern up. I'll make the pattern four times and sew those four blocks together to make the king size quilt. Here's a page talking about the quilt with a lot of pictures at the bottom: http://lucysquilts.blogspot.com/

Basically, it uses denim squares to give a stained glass effect. There are denim blocks in 2", 4", 6", 8", 10", and 12" sizes. There are not many 10" and 12" blocks, so there are many more smaller blocks. Each block is sewn to a 1" black strip that looks like the leading in a stained glass.

For the piecing, I bought 1000 yards of King Tut Edwardian Blue. On some sites that blue looks great for denims and in others it looks too brilliant. I asked the store to cancel my order if they didn't think it would work with denim and black.

I've been cutting the seams out of the jeans and that's been making my hands sore. I hope that's the worst part and cutting isn't as hard on my hands and arms, but I'm not hopeful. This is by far the largest project I've ever done and I hope to have it finished by Christmas.

Thanks for all the input and advice (more needles!) and I'm sure I'll be back with more questions.

She says she'll email out the pattern at no charge. I'd definitely request the pattern (and really consider making the requested donation to a charity because patterns are rarely free).

I think you'll probably have to calculate each type of square/rectangle individually. Here's a calculator I've found helpful:
http://vrya.net/quilt/flash/QuiltCalc_Loader.html

I would probably put in 42"W fabric to be safe unless you know for sure what the width is for what you're buying. Plenty of fabrics are 44W and some are 45 (especially non-quilting fabrics), but you never know until you check the bolt. You can also calculate the fabric needed for the border (make sure to check the appropriate box for "finished dimensions" or "cut dimensions" -- I usually measure my actual quilt & then use "cut dimensions").

For backing: If you are sending it out to be quilted -- not a bad idea if all you have is a standard domestic sewing machine -- make sure to add in the extra inches your long-armer needs. I know one of my LQS quilters asks for an extra 4" and another asks for an extra 5". You may need to piece your backing unless you plan to order extra-wide fabric on-line.

I'm not sure whether you are planning to do bias binding (really nice because it has more give, but also more expensive and wasteful of fabric) or straight-of-grain binding. For straight-of-grain, I'd probably go with 1 yard of fabric for your binding, but here's a calculator: http://www.lilystreetquilts.com/lilystreet/calculators I'm not sure if the calculator leaves the extra tail fabric for joining the 2 ends of the binding together. You need at least 12" for that, 20" is even better. :)

Good luck with everything! Sounds like a lot of fun!!!!!

PS -- You may want to consider investing in a rotary cutter. It can cut through both layers of the jeans at once ... makes the cutting go much faster and is easy on the hands.