Oops I did it again.....!

Yep, I did that "oh I can do that, only take me an afternoon" thing again. Took me 4 days! But here is the final creative thing I made in my Easter Holidays. I was inspired by this front cover,

and this Pin on Pinterest. So I clambered off to the loft again and had a good old tidy up of all the trousers I have ever collected putting coloured ones in one suitcase, black ones in a fruit box and all the blue ones in a MASSIVE box. Then I made my selection of the largest and plainest pairs.

Then I had to plan my version

Next job was drawing around my circle template which I did in biro so it would show up. As this was going to be inside it wouldn't show!

This was where the slow bit started; it took me over 4 hours to hand cut out all those circles! 140 of them!

I then drew around my square template on top of the circle and used this as the stitching line to sew my circles together

A fair bit of ironing was required after each row and then I tucked my fabric squares into the pressed circles and stitched them down with a long, wavy zig-zag stitch

I mistakenly thought this would be super quick to put together but I added fabric after I had joined each row of circles and that meant that at the end I then had to turn the quilt through 90 degrees to do the other two sides of the square.

I bought a pack of 6 fat quarters in paisley to be my middles and they all pull it together quite nicely. So finally after 3 days machining and over 1000m of navy thread (yes really that much!) it is done! I love the back with the different denims and the faint wiggles...

And it looks great next to the other denim one too! I think of them as "Circles In, Circles Out!"

And as an extra bonus, some of those zig-zagged edges are going to go all lovely and frayed with use.....

Recycle, re-use.....

Ooo it's the holidays and I have been busy, busy!! First off I have made a quilt! Yes another one. And the best thing of all is that it hasn't cost me a penny! It began with me buying this magazine;

It is a lovely mag, with lots of nice, modern scrappy quilts; right up my street. Inside was this one designed by Allison Harris.

Well I thought to myself, I rather like that so what do I have in my house to make it with? I know...a loft full of old jeans! The pattern called for 8" squares so I went and dug out 4 pairs of (large, bootleg) jeans. I cut them into said squares...

Next I raided my scraps for 48 different fabrics and cut out the circles....

Next they were machined on leaving a raw edge to fray with use!

Next they had to be cut into 4 pieces and mixed up.

Then I rejoined them back into circles, with each quarter now a different fabric.

Next arrange "in a pleasing manner" and join together, first in strips then all the rows.

Instead of making a quilt sandwich with wadding etc I decided to back this with fleece. This I had bought a while ago for another denim quilt and luckily it was big enough.

I decided just to quilt to the left and the right of each block seam.

Finally I bound it using leftover backing from another quilt.

There...all finished! I think this one will be for picnics! Can't wait 'til it starts to fray...

Part Two....

Now I will show you how I finished my quilt!

I chose to back it with fleece so lay it out on the table WRONG side up. Lay the denim RIGHT side up on top of it, making sure it is all square and straight. I found that the stretch denim could pull it out of shape a bit at this point so don't pull it about too much.

Now you really do need to tack. If you have quilt pins then use those but I tack; down the middle, at 90 degrees to that and then in stripes along the short side. It is tedious and hard on the fingers but is well worth it as it does slip about otherwise.

As my quilt had "raggy" seams I decided to finger press the seams apart and stitch right in the middle. This would allow the seams to continue to fray. It also meant that I wasn't accidentally catching down the pockets that I wanted open! If your quilt is flat then it is up to you where and how to quilt but I also think it looks nice if you stitch 1/4 inch to the left and right of each seam. 

To finish it off you need to decide how to edge it. You may choose to bind it like a conventional quilt and there are many instructions on books and the 'net on how to do this. I chose to continue my "raggy" theme and leave it unbound. To form my edge I stitched a 1/4 inch in from the edge before trimming the fleece close. Hopefully the edge will go ragged to match the middle seams too.

I love the way the pockets can still be used..... To start the "ragging" process wash your quilt and tumble dry. The tumble drying will fluff up the fraying edges BUT keep an eye on the lint collecting bit as I think they can cause the dryer to overheat if they get too full. I check mine about every 1/2 hour or so. Don't worry if you don't have a tumble dryer, use will give you the same effect over time! 

Finished quilt! A drapey shot because Katy has taken it away to her lair and I haven't seen it since!
Oh, and someone did tell me that stretch jeans don't go as ragged as normal ones. No idea if this is true so I guess I'll just have to see!

A recycled quilt....

If you have been a reader for a while, you will know that I like to make quilts from old jeans. I made one for Jess from all the baby denim and then one for Eliza and lastly one from old camo trousers for my son. Katy, as ever, is the picky one and wanted a black one so it has taken a while to save up enough in the correct colour. So here is my step-by-step;

Collect a variety of old, clean jeans or other denim items. It is hard to be exact about quantities because it depends rather on the size if them! But as a rough guide, I can get 20 squares out of an adult pair. That is not a skinny pair and the squares are 6 1/2 inch.

Decide which leg seam you want to have in your square. By that I mean the inside leg double stitched one or the outside leg, plainer one. Then cut up the leg to about level with the crutch and lay the leg out flat. Don't cut all the way up because you will need to have a bit of room to fit in squares around the hip part. Then trim the bottom edge so that it is straight...

Work your way up the leg, cutting 6 1/2 inch squares. I was getting two across each of these legs. As you near the top you will need to re-straighten the leg.

When you reach the top, use a square patchwork guide to work out the best way to preserve the decorative parts like pockets and trimmings. Cut through all the layers and I find a rotary cutter is really the best way to go.

Then tack your cut pockets to give support until you assemble the squares. At this point I like to sort my squares into three piles; plain, seamed and fancy so that I get an idea of the ratios I need. Keep cutting in this way until you have enough for your chosen size. If you have tons of plain ones now would be the time to add some decoration to them in the way of buttons, ribbons, applique etc. Press them.

Next step is to lay them out in a "pleasing fashion". This can be mathematical, random or however you like but I find that it helps to take a black and white pic as it shows the contrasts more clearly and enables me to see any areas that are too dark/light.

Now it is a question of joining them all together; first across the row then join each row to the one below. Before you start to stitch just 2 things to do;
1. choose if you want your seams "in" to give the usual smooth finish, or "out" which will give a lovely ragged finish as the quilt washes and wears
2. FIT A DENIM NEEDLE! If there is just one thing you must do, it is this. I broke two needles on the first denim quilt I made and it doesn't do the motor much good either.
Now sew!

A Denim Quilt...

I was very inspired by my day quilting in London and met a lovely lady, Sarah Baulch, and we got chatting about recycling. I have been saving my children's denim skirts, jeans and bits and bobs since they were about 5 so I decided on a whim, to get on and do something with them! A quick hunt on t'internet showed a design for a denim raggy quilt. I rummaged in my loft and found a red fleece throw that I had bought which I decided would make a great backing and away I went....120 squares later....

...I was ready to stitch in strips with the wrong sides together so the seam would be on the surface. Then I ironed the seams flat, trimmed them and stitched the strips together, ironing and trimming as I went. Last job was to attach the fleece and then top-stitch aroung the edge and in a cross shape to hold the back to the front IYSWIM!

And here it is.....My finished quilt on Jess' bed. I have since washed it and the seams are all nice and raggedy. My first ever patchwork and I can thoroughly recommend making one. It took just 3 evenings and has a lovely weight to it as well as the jeans being lovely and soft and worn and full of memories of tiny wearers!