Denim Quilt

I am trying to get myself motivated to work on my HUGE pile of denim, so I'm posting this to help move me along...

I am a huge fan of denim quilts! Our mom made a denim quilt probably 30 years ago that she still uses today out of our dad's old Wranglers. (She didn't even bother to back it, finish off the outer seam, or really cut the jeans down to a particular size--just cut the legs off, opened up the inner seam and sewed them together.) I'm sure there was a time that I was embarassed for her to pull out that blanket and use it in front of me, but now that I'm grown up I can't imagine not having one.

My hubby has a job to which he goes through (or should I say ruins) his jeans at record speed. I think we buy at least 4 new pair every fall. So my stash of old jeans is always increasing. In fact, I don't even send half decent pairs to the Goodwill because I think "I can use those for something!"   I'm sure most of the time my hubby thinks I'm nuts. He'll say shocking things like, "Why don't you just throw them away?" To think I could ever let a good, sturdy piece of quality denim go bad. No Way! :)

So, back to quilts...I am always on the lookout for cute/fast ways to make a denim quilt. Believe me, there are lots of talented ladies out there who are making dang cute blankets. I'm just not sure how easy and fast they are. I do try and make a mental note of the cutest ones and say to myself, "now that is one I should try someday."

So far my favorite "easy" way to make a denim quilt came from Martha Stewart, of course! In her October 2005 issue of Living she dedicated a whole article to denim. I was drawn to her denim quilt because it was different than most quilts, not patchwork or blocked, but rather laid out like hardwood floors.

Here is a picture of it from that article.

I made 2 matching quilts like this for my boys bunk beds a few years ago and have since decided that it is an easy way, even for beginners, to make a pretty denim quilt. So, yea for Martha!

I made mine even easier than she did because I didn't even put batting in the middle. I just made the top, backed it with a twin top sheet, and finished off the edges. I figured with the weight of the denim and it being a bedspread, I didn't need it to weigh 100 pounds. I wanted my boys to be able to use theirs during summer as well as winter. Without the extra weight of the batting, I also didn't have to "tie" it or quilt it in any way shape or form--even better!

Here is my quilt:

Quilt Top

Quilt Back--with awesome blue ticking sheets I found!

Finished edge!