Just another project in paradise
Recently I had the opportunity to work on a project that I have wanted to do for 10 years. It all started when I had a pair of jeans that I just loved that no longer fit and I didn't have the heart to part with them. 10 years later, I had a tote full of jeans and a dream.
With help from my mom, I was able to make a full size quilt with 3 different types of quilt blocks. 40-something of the blocks were a complicated pattern with 1 inch strips. Such detailed sewing is tricky on thick bulky fabric like denim. We also did 40-something simple blocks and 80-something plain blocks. Knowing that it would need to be quilted, we came up with a plan to try free motion quilting on the plain blocks.
I started watching youtube videos demonstrating free motion quilting by Leah Day. She is also working on a project to make a new pattern every day for a year, so she had tons of ideas. She also made a video describing the equipment she uses, which I had none of. So, after some debate, I decided to take the plunge and make the investment into the equipment. When it finally arrived, I hesitantly started. On the first blocks I did a simple meandering pattern to get a feel for the machine. It wasn't too long before I wanted to try more and experiement with designs. I decided that it would be perfectly fine to make this quilt a "sampler" and try a different technique on every block. It ended up being a ton of fun, especially compared to the other style of quilting, stitch in the ditch, which is a lot of straight lines and manuvering a very heavy quilt.
And yes, the quilt did turn out very heavy. I think we used 15 or so pairs of jeans, plus batting and backing. It feels so warm and cozy, just like a quilt ought to be.
Start to finish, here's the project in photos:
With help from my mom, I was able to make a full size quilt with 3 different types of quilt blocks. 40-something of the blocks were a complicated pattern with 1 inch strips. Such detailed sewing is tricky on thick bulky fabric like denim. We also did 40-something simple blocks and 80-something plain blocks. Knowing that it would need to be quilted, we came up with a plan to try free motion quilting on the plain blocks.
I started watching youtube videos demonstrating free motion quilting by Leah Day. She is also working on a project to make a new pattern every day for a year, so she had tons of ideas. She also made a video describing the equipment she uses, which I had none of. So, after some debate, I decided to take the plunge and make the investment into the equipment. When it finally arrived, I hesitantly started. On the first blocks I did a simple meandering pattern to get a feel for the machine. It wasn't too long before I wanted to try more and experiement with designs. I decided that it would be perfectly fine to make this quilt a "sampler" and try a different technique on every block. It ended up being a ton of fun, especially compared to the other style of quilting, stitch in the ditch, which is a lot of straight lines and manuvering a very heavy quilt.
And yes, the quilt did turn out very heavy. I think we used 15 or so pairs of jeans, plus batting and backing. It feels so warm and cozy, just like a quilt ought to be.
Start to finish, here's the project in photos:
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| Jean Quilt |
posted by Katherin at
5:53 PM
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