I have a lot of old jeans and I would like to make a jean quilt. My dad is 95 and tells about jean quilts his mother made - he said they were the warmest ones ever - when he was young he slept in the bed with 5 of his brothers and they had a jean quilt that covered them - backing was jeans also - the roof had holes in it and dad said that they never got cold, even when it snowed because the jean quilt was so thick. He is asking me to make him one and I have gathered some of his old jeans as well as mine and my children's. I am an intermediate quilter - can anyone help me - I have purchased a heavy duty needle for my machine and I was planning on 5 inch squares in rows. I did not know if I was thinking of this the right way. Have never made a quilt out of such thick material.

Emmie ,this is a jean quilt that I made, It's not completely jean material but it is still heavy. It's made with jean circles, with squares of batting and fabric in the centers. Once you fold over the circle edges and stitch them down it makes this beautiful pattern on the front as well as on the back. It was very hard to hold it and sew on my machine because of all the pins in it. But it was well worth it. It is very warm and heavy. I know we don't have a lot of really cold days here in GA., but this morn it was 27 degrees.

Oh - I love the Denim and Deer!! What is the pattern called? I have some fabric that would look great in it.
We don't have that many cold days in Texas but my dad is always cold lately - I think that is what got him thinking about the jean quilt.

Ok how do you make that quilt is there a pattern I love it!

I have been googling quilt patterns and I think this is a large version of a Cathedral quilt. I found info at
http://www.quilting101.com/patterns/...-patterns.html

http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpa...ndow_quilt.htm


This one shows it better -

Emmie, I don't know that it has a name other than denim circle quilt, Googling is how i found it. Several different sites give tutorials. They also give the pattern for the circle and square needed to make the quilt. Yes it does mention the cathedral window in some of them. I'll try to find the site I used.

Oh Thank you so much - I am so excited I can't even get supper started in the crock pot for reading about this quilt!!

Emmie, try this site, this is how I made mine.
http://www.equilters.com/library/jea...gallbaros.html

Thank you! :D :-D :-D

Thank you so much!!!

This is a hand stitched quilt I picked up from a junk shop for 12.00, I'm doing repairs on it before I can was it. Tha gal hand stitched the whole quilt, you can see spots where she let the hems down and so it looks well worn in those spots. She used a really good muslin fabric with it, the seams on some are coming apart, but I'll get them repaired a little at a time, she signed the back & dated it 1975, I just love it and will be well worth the repair time for me. It's super heavey.

I love the pattern in that one.

That is so pretty - Is the denim cut like flying geese?

Well I took it to the gal at my local quilt shop, she was really surprised to see this pattern all hand done, she said most will not even make this star pattern with cotton fabric by machine. I have all the white muslin squares repaied but have to complete the denim yet. I think once it's washed it will be stunning.

Star pattern - hummmm - I love the variation in colors in the denim

It's really cool the way she did it, the center looks like a ligher denim and works out to darker colors. I would never be able to hand stitch something like this, I would be tossing it, it's tuff going through the denim with the needle by hand. I'm proud to own this quilt.

I was looking up star pattern variations in my quilt books and I found a wind mill pattern that I think would look good. It would highlight the variations in colors and the pieces are bigger so I can make them on my machine.

Both of these quilts are beautiful!!!
I can't wait to see which one you decide on, and to see the pics of the finished quilt!!! :D:D:D
I have a huge box full of jeans waiting to be cut up :D:D:D

Here's the link to a couple of jeans quilts I made.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-27975-1.htm

My favorite jeans quilt was made out of log cabin squares with centers of colored denim. It had 48 squares, maybe 8" each. the back was pieced denim as well.

Thanks Emmie-can't wait to get that pile of old jeans from the attic, I have been collecting from thrift stores, to someday make a jean quilt. This one has me excited. :-D

Love the deer and jean quilt.

My mom took my girls' old jeans to make a quilt. She used all parts of the jeans. The back pockets were included, and she put a little toy or book in each pocket. Mom also used the front section (with the zipper) She backed it with cotton fabric, and put a tie 'belt' in the loops. The zipper can be unzipped, and the pocket is used for a pajama pocket.

I'll see if I can get a pic and put it on here.

Great quilt sites. Thanks a mill.

This is my daughter's quilt - several years old, and still taken everywhere! (It came home from college for break!)

This is the first time I tried to post a picture. I hope it turns out right.

Sorry. It's sideways, but you can get the idea.

I love it!!!

I love that deer/circle quilt! I'm wondering how the sections stay together - do they tend to pull apart at all when a quilt is put together that way? I hope not.... I have a huge stash of jeans I've been saving for years and I'd love to try this!

I would probably make a jeans quilt with flannel on one side so it isn't quite as heavy. It's one thing to lie under a jeans quilt when you're a youngster and quite another to lie under that weight when you're in your 90's! Some people do find the weight of a jeans quilt comforting, but I still think there would be some limits as to what would be comfortable for an older person with thinner skin and less padding between skin and bone.

There are some great websites that talk about making jeans quilts. Be sure to Google them for ideas, pictures, patterns, and tips.

For a quick lesson, I'll try to explain the process. When you get your denim circles cut you draw a square inside it,and sew them together on one side of the square, in a row as wide as you want the finished quilt. After you get a row of circles sewn, sew them together on the long side and just keep adding rows until you have the finished size.I found it easier to work in 12-15 circle sections then sewing them together.Press the little flaps down. Then I cut batting and fabric squares and put in each circle section, pin down the little flaps(that were made when sewing the circles together) and stitch them down. I hope this along with the pics gives you an idea of how it comes together. It is very sturdy and none of mine have come unsewn. The link in my earlier post probly does a better job of explaining it. Hope this helps.

Pics of circles quilt process.

And 2 more

Thanks for the explanation! It looks like a great way to do a quilt. It's kind of quilt as you go, isn't it?

I am so excited about this - thanks so much for posting it!