Upcycling For Warmth

It has been getting cold out there. You can't deny it, winter is upon us. I try to clean out my house in the fall to make room for all the new toys and treats I will get over the holiday season. This year, the cleaning out includes a pile of jeans that have been either worn out or just don't fit anymore. The first thing that came to mind was a denim quilt. Of course I've also been itching to do a flannel quilt, so I compromised and am doing a denim and flannel rag quilt.

So this week is all about the process of making such a quilt. Kind of a week long tutorial based on my experience. Naturally, the first step is gather your materials. I have a ton of denim floating around the house, so I gathered up the lightweight pairs of jeans for this quilt. I really don't want it to be overly heavy. (Afterall, with the fireplace we have, we don't need super heavy blankets!)

You can see there are different shades of denim in the mix which I think will help create an interesting pattern in the finished quilt. In all, I used five pairs of jeans.

I lucked out on the flannel. I found four remnants, each just about a yard. I bought them when I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them but wanted to do something autumn-ish. At any rate, those are the colors I used. Fortunately, I won't have to worry about batting for this quilt, which I really like because it is one less expense. I didn't use all of the flannel, but I'm sure I will use the left overs for something else. In all, I believe I used a little less than three and a half yards.

For those of you playing along at home, on the first day you just need to find your supplies and wash and dry them. My research showed that nearly everyone says to wash it. I only saw one site (a fabric store) that didn't say to wash it. So I am going to skip the washing step and by the end of the week, we'll know if that was a mistake or not!

To recap, you need:

-multiple pairs of jeans (don't buy them, use what you have, if you have to buy them, get them from a thrift store!)
-roughly 3 1/2 yards of flannel - I am estimating for a 44"x55" finished quilt and 44-45" flannel material
-thread
-basic sewing supplies (sewing machine, rotary cutter, ruler, cutting mat, etc.)