Recycled Denim Quilt Top

The Boy (who, for those of you who don't know me, is not my son) gave me a stack of old jeans that he was going to give to Salvation Army. He thought I might want to make something out of them. He knows me pretty well by now...

As soon as I saw them I pictured a quilt top made from the jeans. At first I had planned to just cut large pieces and sew them together. As I kept looking at the pile I decided to try a more traditional pieced quilt top. I knew I wanted each block to be oversized, so I started cutting 4 1/2 inch wide strips and began piecing them in a Log Cabin block.



I love how it turned out. It's both exactly what I was hoping for and way better than I had expected. I love how each pair of jeans contributed a different shade.

Now I need to work on my arm strength so I can finish it. This thing is H-E-A-V-Y! The finished quilt top is 80" x 80". I'm planning to make a quilt sandwich with a flannel sheet and a plain cotton backing. I think I'll end up tying it rather than attempting to machine quilt it. (see earlier comment re: weight of quilt and lack of arm strength)

Of course I have a The Boy comment about this project. When I was working on the blocks I had a stack of them on my sewing table. I pointed them out to the Boy and told him that's what became of the stack of jeans he had given me. He looked at them and said "Oh cool. What are you making? A dress?"

(he wasn't serious)(I hope)(the image of a majorly patchworked denim dress nearly did me in and I couldn't breathe for a while from the laughing)

Oh! Hi!

So you know how sometimes you have something you're working on and you can't seem to get a good picture of it and then you finish and you think you should post it on your blog and then you forget and then 2 months go by and you still haven't posted and you're pretty sure that anyone who may have once read your blog is now long gone? No? Just me?

I'm going to just jump in here. No real reason I haven't posted... just... you know.

I finally got around to finishing the hexagon afghan I started, um, a year ago... I made the mistake of telling the Boy it was for him which led to weeks, well, really: months of him asking me "is my blanket done?" "are you working on my blanket?" "what's that you're knitting? is that my blanket?"



I'm really happy with how it turned out, and the Boy is too. I used up a lot (A LOT) of acrylic scraps. I forgot to count the hexs at the end but it's about 5' x 6' so... a lot.

When I finished I threw it in the wash since it had been sitting around for a year. It was then I found out that a few of the hexs were not acrylic but were in fact random wool that had snuck in. They felted.



Oh well. It adds "textural interest"... ehem.

I also finished another longtime WIP: The Leftover Blanket! This one is more than 2 years old. It's approximately 45" x 55" but I plan on trying to block it a bit bigger. Eventually. To be honest this one is less "Finished" and more "I'm never going to get the will power to make it any bigger than it is so I'm calling it done". The final round was on the needles for months.



It's a great lap blanket size and I can curl up under it when I'm truly curled up. It's all sock yarn so it's mostly wool and very warm. I'm really happy with the final look and I'm VERY happy to call this one done. Whew.

I have a funny email to share with you before I go. The Boy sent me this Monday morning. I was laughing so hard reading it I had tears in my eyes. He suggested I share it with my "Knitter friends"... silly the Boy! I was planning to all along!

From: The Boy
Sent: May 10, 2010 10:40 AM
To: Lori
Subject:

So you left your knitting in my house, no big deal I finished it off for you. Did a quick online seminar on how to knit. It’s quite easy, don’t know why it takes you so long to make this stuff. ANYWAY I didn’t have time to make the sweater with ‘arms’ or a ‘neck’ so I just kept on making the tube part…so it’s less like a sweater and more like a tube…like a tube top. Then I didn’t know how to finish, so I just cut the rope and grabbed the stapler and hammered 6-8 staples into the end so that it would not come apart when you wash it..then again I would not wash it. Oh I ran out of whatever that lousy color was that you were using, because you didn’t provide me with enough wool, so I found some other stuff (I think it said wool but it could have been bailing twine for all I could tell) and kept going. I think the colors match quite well, but that’s for you to decide. I again, didn’t know how to end one color and begin another so I just crazy glued the two together. No big deal but again, I would not wash it.

Anyway you’re welcome, and if I ever hear you complain about how long it’s taking to make something, I’ll know that you’re lying so don’t try to pull that crap on me.