Denim Quilt Finish

 Mr. Podunk's camping quilt is finished.  He's one happy camper!  The denim and flannel in this quilt were cut from old jeans and flannel shirts collected over the last 2 to 3 years.  A big thank you to the extended family who donated old clothing destined for the trash or thrift shops.

This girl is heavy and should keep him nice and warm this winter on his hunting trips.  The squares were cut at five inches so they finish in the quilt at 4.5 inches.  The quilt measures about 67 x 90.

When cutting the jeans I chose to use the imperfections such as holes and bleached spots.  This gives the quilt a little character.  Some of the back pockets were removed in order to use more of the denim.  This also added a little more visual interest. 

For the first time in many years I did not use 100% poly batting.  I wanted 100% cotton batting but Hobby Lobby only had Hobbs 80/20, so 80/20 it is!  A blue wide backing from Hobby Lobby for the back.  To finish her off I pulled an old blue homespun plaid from the stash for the binding.  

Working with denim and flannel isn't hard but it definitely requires a little more patience.  I broke a needle while piecing the rows together.  Then came the shredding of thread due to a bad spool of thread.  The Coats and Clark quilting cotton spool was tossed in the trash after about the third shred and break.  The piecing and quilting was finished with Guterman serger thread and I had no shreds or breaks.  But when I put this girl on the frame, my old quilter decided to literally fall apart.  I made 3 quilting lines, well 2 and half, when the thread guide fell off.  

How this didn't break the needle was pure luck.

It took about an hour to remove a few parts and reattach the thread guide.  After this it was smooth sailing.  No more problems, the quilt was quilted and bound by the end of the day.  

Until next time...

I hope you find the time to stitch up something sweet!

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New Camping Quilt and Shipping Quilts

 The Halloween quilts and pillows are on their way to the grandkids.  Finding a box large enough was impossible.  So I had to split it up into two boxes.  The four quilts and three pillows were stuffed into large vacuum bags and I used the vacuum cleaner to suck out the air.  Of course granny added a few fall themed treats and goodies.  

Now it's time to start on Mr. Podunk's camping quilt using old blue jeans and men's shirts.  I deboned and cut up the jeans and shirts back in August so this should go together pretty quick.  Just lay out the squares and start stacking.

I'm pretty sure I can make more than one quilt.  This quilt will need 315 squares.

I didn't count all the squares when cutting but it looks like there's more than enough.  Here's the picture I posted back in August when I gave up on counting.

After stacking the squares it was time to lay them out.  I did not plan for it to look uniform.  I don't like the way it looks.  So I asked for Mr. Podunk's opinion, after all he's the one that will be using it. He said he didn't care if I changed it or left it as is, it's just a utility quilt.  Great!  This is staying as is!

Denim fabric is notorious for breaking needles.  Let's hope all goes well because I only have two heavy duty needles on hand.  One in the machine and one extra.

I'll be using Coats and Clark Quilting thread for the piecing and the quilting.  I haven't used this stuff in years but it is what I used in my first jean quilt 20 yrs ago.  It worked out fine way back then so why not use it again.

Then while sewing together the first two pieces, this happened.  Of course I immediately blamed the cheap Coats and Clark thread.

But as I dug out the tangled thread I noticed the filthy bobbin area.  This might be the issue and not the thread.  I can't remember the last time I cleaned the bobbin area.  I used to be really good about cleaning it out after every project.

Well, looks like I owe Coats and Clark an apology.   The first to rows went together without a hitch after cleaning. 

Until next time...

I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!

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Day 11 ~ Die Cutting Denim and Flannel

 Hi Quilty Friends.  Just when I thought I had reached the end of the fabric sorting, folding and storing, I found these.   How did I not see the big bag of blue jeans and shirts?  Oh, I saw it but I thought it was one of my half quilted quilts.  As soon as I tried to pick it up and it weighed a ton I knew there was more fabric sorting to be done.  This sent me down a rabbit hole of checking every box and bag for fabric.  Thankfully this is the last of the fabric to sort and store.

Most of the jeans and a few shirts have already been deboned.  Deboning is the process of cutting away the seams and buttons. I could leave them as is and deal with them when I'm ready to make the quilt but they will take up less storage space if I debone them. It only took a couple hours to get them deboned.

I could have stopped there.  Did I do that?  No, this morning I had the bright idea to go ahead and cut them into squares.  This will reduce the space needed for storage even more.  

Since denim dulls a rotary cutter faster than paper or batting I decided to use the Sizzix die cutter.  It may also speed up the cutting process once I get a good assembly line routine going.  

The Sizzix can typically cut 8 layers of quilting cotton at a time, but I don't think it can handle 8 layers of denim.  So, I started out with 4 layers.

 Maybe 3 layers might work better.  A few threads in the corner need to be clipped.  Maybe running it through twice would help?  Who knows, I've only used this contraption a couple of times. I might be doing something wrong.

From the scraps I'll cut 3.5" squares because I can't toss out good denim.  The smaller die cut through the 4 layers of denim like butter.  Yep, I must have done something wrong with the bigger die.  Of course it could be a faulty die.  These Sizzix dies with straight edges need to be a little crooked when you run them through.  Was it not crooked enough or too crooked?  Hopefully I can figure it out and zip through these by noon today.  Wish me luck!

Until next time...

I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!

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