Jean Quilt Finished with Machine Quilting

For Christmas this past year, I kept really busy making quilts for two of my sons.  One of my boys wanted a Jean Quilt and has been asking for months.  So I kept putting him off and worked on it while he was at school.  You should have seen his face when he opened the present Christmas morning!  It was priceless!

 

I did this quilt a little different than the last one I made.  About a year ago, I made a Jean Quilt for my husband.  My mom and sisters helped me tie the quilt.  This year, I didn't have my mom or sisters around to help, so I decided to machine quilt it.  And I love how it turned out!

I started making the quilt by cutting the jeans into strips.  The length of the strips varied depending on how long the jeans were and where the holes were that I had to cut out.  The width of the strips were 4, 5 or 6 inches, depending on how wide the jeans were.  I divided them into piles and then sewed the piles of strips together into long rows.  Then I sewed the rows together, alternating the different width of rows.  I used another quilt that I had to get the dimensions.  He wanted to fit it onto his bed.

Now it's time to put the quilt together.  I bought some fabric and sewed it together to make the backing, I believe that it was about 5 yards.  The last jean quilt I did, I just used a flannel sheet.  My son requested a John Deere Jean Quilt, so that's what he got!  

First, put down the back of your quilt on the floor, then the batting and then the jean part.  So you have a sandwich of a quilt.  Smooth out the wrinkles and use curved safety pins to pin all over the quilt.  The safety pins will hold your quilt into place.

Now is the time for the sewing machine!  Above is a picture of the curved safety pins and the walking foot that I used.  I went to a local quilt shop and bought a generic walking foot.  They made sure that it would work on my machine before I bought it and it cost about $20.  The walking foot feeds the top layer of your fabric so it doesn't get all bunched up.  

I sewed down the quilt in straight lines.  But I didn't "stitch in a ditch"  because I didn't want to break any needles.  So I stitched about 1/4 of an inch away from each seam.  When machine quilting, it's best to start in the middle of your quilt to avoid bunching and tucks in your fabric.  

And believe it or not, I only broke one needle the entire time by working on this quilt!  And it was my own fault, because my needle was loose and I started sewing, which caused it to break. 

My son's name is Ashton and he wanted the letter A on his quilt.  So after I bound the quilt, I cut out the letter A and sewed it on.

The quilt turned out great, and is perfect for keeping warm.  Ashton said that he wants a jean quilt so when he goes camping he can wipe his dirty hands on it and not feel bad.  Hmmm...whatever makes him happy!  :)