Yes, I patch jeans….

With lots of worn out jeans, there is no shortage of raw material to quilt.

This past week I was trying to catch up on some work I had wanted to do for a long time. That with gardening, getting seeding done, calving season, haying and in general getting ready for spring and summer I just hadn’t found the time.

jeans quilt 1

Believe you can and you’re halfway there. Theodore Roosevelt

So I finally pulled out my Rubbermaid tub, brimming over with jeans that were in various stages of needing repairs. Yes, I patch jeans, something that is mostly unheard of now-a-days. I probably would be able to sell my “natural” worn jeans for a pretty penny on E-Bay, however I patch them. Not that I like doing it, I find it tedious and time-consuming, I always end up being picked by the pins, but as long as I can remember, at least as long as I have been married, I have been patching them. First for the husband and myself, and later the kids.

I did end up with a big stack of pants that were well beyond repair, as well as the usual array of scraps. Well, I love Pinterest… I always find some inspiration there and can spend hours roaming around the different boards. So not surprising, I went to my “Denim” board and found some ideas I was able to use.
First I started cutting up my too worn pants. Then I cut squares:

jeans quilt 2

I saved some of the pockets to make a “pocket quilt”, sometime.

jeans quilt 3

jeans quilt 4

Then I got out my stash of bandanas or “boeren zakdoeken” and grandpa’s hankies, I selected the red ones and glued squares to the bandanas, so I was able to sew them on and they would stay in place while doing this. I don’t like being jabbed by pins…

jeans quilt 5

Hearts and squares

Then I traced different designs on the squares, keeping it very simple and stitching around the designs.

jeans quilt 7

I cut them open so the red cloth would show through, and I experimented with denim on denim.

Progress

I used a stencil of a rose, stitched in the outlines and then carefully opened up the fabric, cutting away excess, and ruffling up the edges a bit. I am hoping that with wear and washing it will become very nice.