As we begin a new year, I have resolved that I need to spend more time in my sewing room and also more time sharing what I do in the sewing room with those that read my blog.
To be able to spend more time in my sewing room I needed to figure out how to spend less time on my computer and the first change is that I have put my stained glass denim quilt pattern on Etsy. In my last post I estimated that I had sent the pattern out to more than 2000 quilters. That number has increased markedly with the advent of Pinterest and Facebook. There are day I get 30-50 emails or comments on my blog. Add to that the fact that I am working close to full time and I want to spend time with my grandson and other family members and you might see why I had to come up with a more automated method of sharing the pattern. Etsy seemed like the right answer. I will still be available via email to people who have questions as they use the pattern and would still love to get pictures and most importantly, I will still be giving most of the money received from the pattern to charity.
I have had a couple people who have been upset with me because of the change but I have to make the decision based on me, not them.
So if you are interested in getting a copy of the pattern go to my Etsy shop and add the pattern to your cart!
Showing posts with label Denim Quilts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Denim Quilts. Show all posts
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Denim Update
******Important Update: As of December 31, 2015 this pattern will be available only in my Etsy Shop - LucysQuilts******
On Saturday, December 12, 2009, I wrote a post on this blog about the denim quilts I have made. I have been amazed at the number of quilters who wanted the pattern. As Facebook gained popularity with some of us 'older folks' and Pinterest took off that number just kept going up. At first it was a few people a month who either emailed me or left a comment with their email address, then a few a week. Then I was asked by Marina and Daryl at Quilt Inspiration if they could do a post and they did. Then things really picked up! There would be days when I got 10 or more and I knew that someone new had pinned a picture on Pinterest. About a week ago someone posted a photo on the Quilt Along with Pat Sloan Facebook Group page and requests shot up once again. I was looking for the picture thread there today though and it seems to have been deleted. Not sure what that is about.
Anyway, since 2009 I have gotten over 1100 comments on the blog post and probably at least another 1000 emails with requests for the pattern. Which means I have sent the pattern to more than 2000 quilters in the us and around the world! Crazy, to think about!
Unfortunately, some comments did not include an email address so I was unable to fulfill the requests. I also moderate comments as I was getting a lot of spam. Because of this there is a delay before a comment is posted so some people commented more than once thinking it didn't work. I usually only publish one comment per person in those cases. Also, if you don't want your inbox filled with comments from other folks make sure you check your settings.
I have changed the pattern slightly over the years and my latest version has a new size added to it (60" X 80"). I have tried to add more information to the pattern to answer some of the questions I have received from folks over the years. The most commonly asked questions is whether you should add seam allowance to the measurements I have given and the answer is a resounding NO! It is included in the 2", 4", 6", etc. Also, the strips ARE cut 1" wide.
I had never charged for the pattern, but I have given folks information about making donations to a couple of charities. Beginning in January or 2016 the pattern has been available from my Etsy shop: LucysQuilts as I found myself spending more time sending out the pattern than doing anything creative. The proceeds from the pattern all go to charity still.
In March, when my husband and I took our two oldest grandchildren to the east coast we were able to visit one of the LWR warehouses in Maryland and the kids were able to watch as they squished quilts and wrapped them in bales to prepare them for shipping.
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| The quilt folding area and pallets with bales of quilts. |
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| Almost done making a bale. |
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| Folding the quilts to be baled. |
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| Weighing a bale. |
Here is a link if you are interested in learning more or would like to donate go to lwr.org.
In the email that I send out with the pattern I also have asked quilters to send me pictures of quilts they have made using the pattern and here are..
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| A two-piece cover for the couch in Marilyn's motor home. |
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| Rhoda in South Dakota made this one along with the next two. |
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| Made from Crown Royal bags |
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| From Karin in the UK. She said that she enjoyed cutting the pieces and figuring out the layout but the quilting was a bit daunting so she put it in the cupboard for a while to percolate and then finished it in one day! |
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| The quilting is fun on this one by Virginia |
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| Birgit's version She added rows to make it larger. |
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| This one is from Judith. |
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| This one is from Michelle who added an extra row to make it long enough for her son. |
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| From Cindy |
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| Memory Quilt made by Glenda |
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| Becky made this for a raffle. She wasn't happy with the way it turned out but I think it is great! |
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| This is one started at the class I did for my quilt guild. |
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| This one has wider sashing. Becky did it as a Quilt As You Go. |
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| Here is a shot of the back |
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| Susan used decorative stitching for the quilting on the strips on this test sample. |
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| Phyllis used a maroonish red for the strips |
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| Linda made this for her granddaughter, Amanda. |
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| Phil did this larger adaptation, saying, "the quilt was surprisingly easier than I expected it to be." |
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| This one is a work in progress from a first time quilter. |
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| Jackie made this for her grandson. I think he likes it. |
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| Sandra added extra rows and used red for sashing. |
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| From Jennifer Can you see the darker 'bat' shape in there? |
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| This is Susan from Australia showing the quilt she made for her son using his jeans. |
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Mary made this king size top
using some added bits of lace and
some buttons along with blocks
from various embroidered
denim shirts, jackets and jumpers.
|
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| Melissa made this one and embroidered a squirrel, her god-daughter's name and her college name. |
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| Ann made this one using platinum strips and added some pillow shams for her son. |
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| This is Theresa's WIP for her daughter with an Americana theme. |
These pictures really show the versatility of this pattern! I am currently working (when I get a chance) on using up all the denim I have. I am guessing I have enough to make 10-20 or more quilts using the new 60" X 80" pattern.
So, if after reading this update you want the updated pattern,
Friday, December 18, 2009
Three Denim Quilts!
Yes, they are done. I need to label them and get them in a box and they will be on their way! WooHoo! I hope to get that done today and also get a couple other things in the mail and I have one or two other projects to finish up in the next few days.
This is for the great-niece that likes orange and green...
And this is for our teenage great-nephew. Not easy finding a 'manly' flannel so I hope he likes camo-geckos.
I need to label them and get them in a box and they will be on their way! WooHoo! I hope to get that done today and also get a couple other things in the mail and I have one or two other projects to finish up in the next few days.
Our son should be home tomorrow or Sunday and our daughter will arrive on Sunday so the empty nest will disappear for a short time again. Not sure what baking/candy-making will get done this year. Depends on what the kids want and want to help with! I am sure the boy will want his Chex Party Mix!
This is for the great-niece that likes orange and green...
And this is for our teenage great-nephew. Not easy finding a 'manly' flannel so I hope he likes camo-geckos.
I need to label them and get them in a box and they will be on their way! WooHoo! I hope to get that done today and also get a couple other things in the mail and I have one or two other projects to finish up in the next few days.
Our son should be home tomorrow or Sunday and our daughter will arrive on Sunday so the empty nest will disappear for a short time again. Not sure what baking/candy-making will get done this year. Depends on what the kids want and want to help with! I am sure the boy will want his Chex Party Mix!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Denim Quilts
******Important Update: As of December 31, 2015 this pattern will be available only in my Etsy Shop - LucysQuilts******
******If you have commented on this post in the past and haven't received the pattern it is probably because you did not give me an email address. You can either comment with your email address or click on View My Profile on the right and then click on Email Me on the left*******
In 2001, my sister and I each had a child graduating from high school and we decided to make a quilt for each of them as a gift. I was going through a bit of a slump in my sewing so I let my sister pick the pattern. She had this great pattern for denim quilts and thought that would be a good choice for her son and my daughter to take to college and since I had no better idea it was decided. We got together at her house and got the two tops made in a day or two and though both of the graduates were in and out of the house, neither had a clue.
I loved the concept of this pattern and was inspired to make a few more, and then a few more and now I have no idea how many I have made based on the pattern but it is well over 100.
Many fellow quilters have asked for information about the way they are put together over the years including one request on my last post. I was hoping I had already done a tutorial here but looking back quickly did not reveal one so here goes...
The pattern was adapted from the pattern for the cover quilt on Kaffe Fassett's book Glorious Patchwork. I am not sure who adapted the pattern for denim but it was inspired. I have changed the pattern a little to make it easier for this method, but it can be done as printed in the book.
I make my quilts out of old jeans because I love the variations in the fabric as it fades and the pockets are great. You can also use new denim of various shades or colors. If you are using jeans, you either rip them at the seams or cut them apart. Then you cut squares that are 2", 4", 6", 8", 10" and 12". You also need the fabric for the strips in between the blocks. The pattern called for black cotton and I have used several bolts of 60" black Kona for these quilts! The black is cut into 1" strips. Some of the strips are cut into 2", 4", 6", 8", 10" and 12" lengths as needed. Some are used for the strips between the rows.
The basic method here is to put a strip of black between each block of denim. The beauty of this is that you are never sewing denim to denim so the seams don't get too bulky. You need to practice with your machine to get the right seam allowance. I have found that if I use my 1/4" foot for this quilt the pieces don't match up as they should so I use the regular foot on my Pfaffs and sew more of a true 1/4" seam as opposed to a scant 1/4".
My first thought after I got the pattern was to use the sleeves that I cut off the twill coverall's that my husband wears for work. I have always saved them (I know, a little crazy) and he has had grey, forest green, cadet blue and navy blue coveralls over the years but that looked pretty boring so I went to thrift stores and fabric stores and found some twill prints that tied them all together. This is the one I made for my husband using up the last of my twill pieces (at that time) and as you can see I only had 2", 4" and 6" pieces left.
In the first few years I went to thrift stores and picked up jeans for the quilts. I found that 12" squares aren't easy to get from most jeans so I bought some denim dresses or jumpers and occasionally very large jeans. I've also found a few pieces of denim yardage at the thrift stores or bought some on sale for the larger pieces. I have gotten some great colored/print denims at the thrift store in the children's section and a few in the women's section. I found one that was a white denim with huge blue roses that should never have been made into a pair of size 20 capris! It did work well in my king size quilt when added to yellow, green and blue denim!
Now, since people know I make quilts out of old jeans, they frequently ask me if I am still making the denim quilts and hand me grocery bags of jeans. This is why I have several boxes of jeans in my attic waiting to be cut up!
The best thing about this pattern that makes a 52" X 56" quilt is that it can be easily adapted to make a larger quilt or to use different pieces if you don't have the correct number of pieces of the various sizes from the jeans you want to use. It is all based on a 2" grid. The pattern starts in the middle with a 12" square and then rows are added similar to a log cabin block.
Here is one I made for a friend using jewel tone quilting fabric. Love this one!!!
This is one I made this summer experimenting with a pink print fabric for the strips instead of black.
After getting this round robin quilt put together I decided to use some cream/tan denims with a maroon Kona for the strips and got this great quilt.
As I said earlier, I have made more than 100 quilts based on this pattern. I made 7 or 8 using Christmas prints, a couple for wedding quilts using the wedding colors in various prints and one using Laurel Burch's Ocean Song swirl fabrics in various colors. Most have been denim and many of those were donated to the foster care program in our area for foster kids graduating from high school. I have found that teenagers love these quilts. They are also great for baby quilts or young children as they are very sturdy.
The original graduation quilts and my king-sized quilt were professional machine quilted by a friend. Then for the next few years I tied the quilts until I got brave enough to machine quilt them on my trusty Pfaff 1222's.
If you have any questions, or would like me to email the pattern to you, just email me.
*****UPDATE***** - I am no longer sending out the pattern via email. Due to the high demand it is only available from my Etsy shop: LucysQuilts. Also, comments are moderated so it may take up to a couple of days for it to be posted if I am out of town but I will get to it and respond so you don't have to comment again if you don't see your comment right away.
*****I have posted a Denim Update here.*****
******If you have commented on this post in the past and haven't received the pattern it is probably because you did not give me an email address. You can either comment with your email address or click on View My Profile on the right and then click on Email Me on the left*******
In 2001, my sister and I each had a child graduating from high school and we decided to make a quilt for each of them as a gift. I was going through a bit of a slump in my sewing so I let my sister pick the pattern. She had this great pattern for denim quilts and thought that would be a good choice for her son and my daughter to take to college and since I had no better idea it was decided. We got together at her house and got the two tops made in a day or two and though both of the graduates were in and out of the house, neither had a clue.
I loved the concept of this pattern and was inspired to make a few more, and then a few more and now I have no idea how many I have made based on the pattern but it is well over 100. Many fellow quilters have asked for information about the way they are put together over the years including one request on my last post. I was hoping I had already done a tutorial here but looking back quickly did not reveal one so here goes...
The pattern was adapted from the pattern for the cover quilt on Kaffe Fassett's book Glorious Patchwork. I am not sure who adapted the pattern for denim but it was inspired. I have changed the pattern a little to make it easier for this method, but it can be done as printed in the book.
I make my quilts out of old jeans because I love the variations in the fabric as it fades and the pockets are great. You can also use new denim of various shades or colors. If you are using jeans, you either rip them at the seams or cut them apart. Then you cut squares that are 2", 4", 6", 8", 10" and 12". You also need the fabric for the strips in between the blocks. The pattern called for black cotton and I have used several bolts of 60" black Kona for these quilts! The black is cut into 1" strips. Some of the strips are cut into 2", 4", 6", 8", 10" and 12" lengths as needed. Some are used for the strips between the rows. The basic method here is to put a strip of black between each block of denim. The beauty of this is that you are never sewing denim to denim so the seams don't get too bulky. You need to practice with your machine to get the right seam allowance. I have found that if I use my 1/4" foot for this quilt the pieces don't match up as they should so I use the regular foot on my Pfaffs and sew more of a true 1/4" seam as opposed to a scant 1/4".
My first thought after I got the pattern was to use the sleeves that I cut off the twill coverall's that my husband wears for work. I have always saved them (I know, a little crazy) and he has had grey, forest green, cadet blue and navy blue coveralls over the years but that looked pretty boring so I went to thrift stores and fabric stores and found some twill prints that tied them all together. This is the one I made for my husband using up the last of my twill pieces (at that time) and as you can see I only had 2", 4" and 6" pieces left.
In the first few years I went to thrift stores and picked up jeans for the quilts. I found that 12" squares aren't easy to get from most jeans so I bought some denim dresses or jumpers and occasionally very large jeans. I've also found a few pieces of denim yardage at the thrift stores or bought some on sale for the larger pieces. I have gotten some great colored/print denims at the thrift store in the children's section and a few in the women's section. I found one that was a white denim with huge blue roses that should never have been made into a pair of size 20 capris! It did work well in my king size quilt when added to yellow, green and blue denim!
Now, since people know I make quilts out of old jeans, they frequently ask me if I am still making the denim quilts and hand me grocery bags of jeans. This is why I have several boxes of jeans in my attic waiting to be cut up!The best thing about this pattern that makes a 52" X 56" quilt is that it can be easily adapted to make a larger quilt or to use different pieces if you don't have the correct number of pieces of the various sizes from the jeans you want to use. It is all based on a 2" grid. The pattern starts in the middle with a 12" square and then rows are added similar to a log cabin block.
Here is one I made for a friend using jewel tone quilting fabric. Love this one!!!
This is one I made this summer experimenting with a pink print fabric for the strips instead of black.
After getting this round robin quilt put together I decided to use some cream/tan denims with a maroon Kona for the strips and got this great quilt.
As I said earlier, I have made more than 100 quilts based on this pattern. I made 7 or 8 using Christmas prints, a couple for wedding quilts using the wedding colors in various prints and one using Laurel Burch's Ocean Song swirl fabrics in various colors. Most have been denim and many of those were donated to the foster care program in our area for foster kids graduating from high school. I have found that teenagers love these quilts. They are also great for baby quilts or young children as they are very sturdy. The original graduation quilts and my king-sized quilt were professional machine quilted by a friend. Then for the next few years I tied the quilts until I got brave enough to machine quilt them on my trusty Pfaff 1222's.
If you have any questions, or would like me to email the pattern to you, just email me.
*****UPDATE***** - I am no longer sending out the pattern via email. Due to the high demand it is only available from my Etsy shop: LucysQuilts. Also, comments are moderated so it may take up to a couple of days for it to be posted if I am out of town but I will get to it and respond so you don't have to comment again if you don't see your comment right away.
*****I have posted a Denim Update here.*****
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