Showing posts with label recycled jeans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recycled jeans. Show all posts

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Finish, Attempts at New Techniques and My First Label

Update:  I just realized there is a credit that I failed to include.  And that was my inspiration for my free motion quilting which came from http://leahday.com/.  I have only done stippling but one day hope to branch out and try some more.

I have finally finished my sister's angel heart quilt.  I have
tried a couple of new techniques and put my first label
ever on this quilt.

These are just some close ups of some of the details on the blocks.


This one shows one of the new details that I tried on this quilt.
You can find a tutorial here at Podunk Pretties for this scalloped border.




And here is a tutorial for this piped binding at Aunt Marti's 52 Quilts
I really like how it turned out and I think the corners mitered better than I have ever been able to
get them to in the past even if they are not just perfect.  The miter on the denim was from the tutorial mentioned above for the scalloped tutorial.











And lastly is the first label I have ever made.  I must admit that I did lots of searching on the internet
for tutorials on this element.  But probably used Dolls and Daydreams for the best part of my inspiration.  I wound up with a product called Blumenthal Craft, Crafter's Images Computer Crafting at Home.  It is a 100% Cotton Poplin but I think at some point I am going to try the freezer paper with a white cotton poplin or similar fabric.  I wasn't absolutely pleased with my label and so I want to play around with that more.  The directions on the product said that it works with all Inkjet Printers but I was really concerned about the ink not setting so I ironed it with a very hot iron to try to set the ink first and then poured vinegar into a shallow dish and wet the entire label and rinsed before taking it back and drying it with the very hot iron.  The label was just a little larger than I liked and when
I did my binding you can see where I sewed across the corners.  I don't so much mind that the thread from the binding was on that side but I don't like that it went across my label.  So I think I need to work with making a design that will set away from my binding far enough that my sewing line won't go directly across the corner of my label. 



All in all I am still pleased with the way it turned out.  I so love the red against that denim.
It just sets against the blue denim so pretty.


Sunday, March 8, 2015

Start of Another Angel Quilt for my Sister



I think this is about how I have decided to do the layout for my sister's quilt.  Not sure about this so suggestions would be welcome.  Also I'm thinking about doing a small heart with yoyo's right in the middle of the next to the last row because I think it might make the hearts in the middle look a bit like a heart.



I just was not satisfied with this layout because it looked a lot like a big "H".

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Duh...Just Realized I haven't Posted about the Latest

I have been trying to blog here about my quilts as I do them 
but I still get lax on coming here.  I am working now on a quilt for my sister.
It is going to be full of hearts and love.

When I am working on them I test different ideas.  This is one of the
first log cabin hearts I did the other day and I think it was just an epic fail.
The "v" in the top is just too shallow.


But I think the second try was better.  Although I must say that when
 I am putting these together and before they have been trimmed up 
I am always thinking these are the ugliest blocks.


But once I have them quilted and get them trimmed up I am starting to
think they are so much prettier.  There is just something about getting 
that unfinished batting edge trimmed away that starts giving them
that neat quilt block look.  Plus for these I just love how the red
compliments the blue denim.

Below are previews of the other heart blocks I've made to go in it.  
They will be be interspersed with some of the pocket blocks that I have. 


Button!  Buttons!


Log Cabin Hearts!


Angels holding hearts!


Heart! Hearts!


Broken Hearts!


Denim Hearts!


Linked Hearts! 


Machine Embroidered Hearts!

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Staying Busy and the Trails my Mind takes me Down as I Do

I'm staying busy again.  I have deconstructed a pile of jeans and I've been working into cutting them into panels that will be sewn into a larger panel to cut my blocks.  I have almost become obsessed with denim.  I love working with it in my quilts.  Since I have let it be known that I've been doing quilts with denim I have family and friends that are donating to me.  I have one friend that will just leave me sacks of them at my back door.  It is like a little surprise when I find them. 

But I love how it fades.  Some denims fade differently than others so you get all the beautiful different shades of blue and blue is just such a comforting color.  As I am working with the denim I notice stains or fading.  For instance the knees always fade more than the rest of the jean.  Stains from dirt or grass are usually found on the front.  Sometimes I just run my hand across a faded denim and you can feel how the fabric has worn to a softness. 

As I am working with it my mind starts to wonder.  I wonder about what the person that wore these jeans did.  What kind of work did they do?  If I see an oil stain I wonder if it is from a teenage kid just learning to work on their first car.  I have a friend that has told me she has me a big sack of jeans and her family worked in concrete so I know there will be stains that will tell that story when I get them. 

I'm currently working on another quilt for one of my grandsons.  One of the first denim quilts I made was for another grandson and was made out of jeans from his mother, from me and from him.  But as I working on these quilts for my other grandsons I also think about the people these other jeans belonged to.  I hope as these boys sleep under these quilts that somehow that working and being good men will seep into them.  That somehow they will know they have a grandmother that loves them very much and that she put a lot of thought into these things as they were made.

Then my thoughts go to my own grandmother.  My quilting is so untraditional.  Machine quilting.  When I was growing up my grandmother lived probably within a quarter mile of our home and I remember walking to her home often during the summer months.  She had a wooden quilting frame that was attached to her ceiling with hooks and ropes and she would wind the rope around the ends of the wooden frame to lift it up to the ceiling when she was not quilting.  But many times it would be down and she would be quilting when I got there.  I would sit with her and she taught me how to hand quilt and make tiny stitches.  I really miss that.  Sometimes one or another of my Aunts would come in and sit and help and she had a friend, Ms. Ritter, who would sometimes walk all the way across town.  We would never know that she was coming until we would see her walking down the road.  Good times!

So yes I am loving working with the denim but after today I'm not so sure it is as much the denim as it is the quilting and all the wonderful thoughts that it provokes in me.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Great News and Staying Busy

 Had some great news come in from my doctor regarding my last colonoscopy.  I have a really small ulcer possibly around the site where my colon was nicked during my kidney surgery but all of my biopsies came back clean.  How great is that! 

Early detection is key folks.  So please go have your test ran.

And I have been staying busy at my denim quilting.  I have been processing the old jeans and now I have a nice big box of denim material to work up.  I am so excited.  It does not take much to make me happy.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Bursting Heart and Angel Quilt Finished



A couple of pictures of the Bursting Heart and Angel Quilt.  This one without the binding.
And this one of the final  finished quilt.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Bursting Heart and Angel Quilt Coming Along

Honestly, I don't think I have an original thought in my head.  But my...oh my...am I easily inspired.  I can look through Pinterest and my mind is in a whirl wind of frenzied ideas.  You saw from my last post Denim Angel Quilt Block Tutorial how I was inspired for the denim angels quilt block.
Well then I ran across this Bursting Heart Pillow tutorial over at the Blue Susan makes... blog.  And apparently I am not the only one inspired by others because she admits that her inspiration came from an Amy Butler's pattern Alchemy Sweet Slices Pillow.  So I had to try to adapt it to my beloved denim.  And this is what I came up with...


And I have incorporated it and the angels into this quilt that is slowly coming along.


I've also included a couple of my denim hearts and I may try to do a tutorial on those in the near future.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Denim Angel Quilt Block Tutorial

 I cannot take credit for this idea.  I found it on Pinterest and have to give Kudos where Kudos are due.  It started out as X-mas Ornament:Angels at the Selimut-ku blog.  But the denim colored blue angel from El Patchwork De Kris caught my eye and I thought that might make a quilt block.  And it did quite nicely.

I do machine quilting on a regular machine, so I always try to work with a 10-inch block.  It is limiting but just easier to maneuver around in the space on regular machine and so set about trying to increase the size of the angel to fit nicely on a 10-inch block.  So I started by trying to find something perfectly round in my kitchen to use for my circles and I came up with the bottom of a paper towel holder.  I think the top of a whipped cream container would have worked just as well. 



The diameter (measuring across from one side thru the center to the other) of the cut circle was 7 1/4 by 7 1/4.
Next I went to my Photoshop Elements and started with a new document with measurements of 5 1/4 and I chose a heart shape and stretched it to fit the measurements and printed.  I layered Wonder Under and my fabric that would be the wings and cut the heart out.
I cut circles from my denim to make my angels.  All of my denim is recycled and I tried to choose a denim that was faded a bit more than my denim blocks because I wanted that contrast in color.  I chose my 10-inch denim blocks that I had already premade and made sure that I chose blocks that had very little seam to them.  And sewed my circles with a over locking stitch right at the very edge leaving about an inch or two for turning.  Usually a seam is recommended and then you clip the seam to work around the circle but because I was working with denim and denim tends to fray I felt that close to the edge with the locking stitch was called for.  I turned my circles and just my closed scissors to help push the edges out.  I ironed the circle being sure to turn in the inch or so that was unsewn.  And went back to my machine to do a scalloped decorative stitch around the edge. 

When I was done the edges tended to want to curl up a bit probably because of the way that I had decided to do the over lock stitch but I was ok with it.  I just thought we would have a bit of a flirty angel.
Next I turned down the collar or what will make the little cape of the angel and ironed.  I was making 4 for the same quilt so I made sure that they were all the same.
This is where I started playing to decide if my colors were balanced and pleasing to me.  I called on my sister to help me decide which looked the best.
I folded down the collar leaving a bit of a space at the top for the head. 



 I created yoyos from different printed fabrics to see which I thought was most appealing. I tried them with the gathers turned up and with them turned down.

We tried them with little black eyes.


















We tried them with a rose embellishment.


















And with a button embellishment.

















With opposite printed fabrics for the face.

With a pink face.
And a white face.  This is the one that we finally settled on.  I like denim for the dress and I think it shows off the decorative stitch so much better than the others.















At this point I positioned everything on my block where I wanted it to be with the Wonder Under beneath the heart, moved the angel off the heart and ironed my heart to my denim 10-inch block.

I have not been turning the edges of my appliques down and I hope that I don't regret this after the wash but I think the wonder under will hold everything in place.  If you think you would rather turn your edges under just cut the heart a 1/4 inch larger and do that before you iron it in place.



Next I used a decorative blank stitch and stitched around the raw edge of the heart.
Next I moved the angel onto the block and centered and pinned it in place.

Next I opened the collar up so that I could see the crease.

And I sewed along the crease.  The contrasting color will not hurt here as the collar will fold back down and cover it.

Then I folded the collar back into place.
And then tacked the collar to secure.  Not to worry with my stitches because the button embellishment will hide any faults.

Next I tacked the button in place.

Then I used the same blanket stich to go around the head.

I love my denim angel block.  I think she is just gorgeous.  I hope the tutorial was useful.