I decided to make a quilt out of some old jeans that were beyond repair and some red and white fabric. Not just any quilt, but a picnic quilt, complete with a strap for easy carrying. I chose a nice, lofty batting so it would be comfortable to sit on, and the jeans make it heavy and durable. Normally I don’t like jean fabric on anything but jeans, but I think it looks perfect as a picnic blanket! It measures about 5½ feet square. Nice and big so everyone has a place to sit!
Of course, you can’t have a picnic blanket without ants, so I embroidered a few around the binding. So cute! The fabric was given to me, and I think most of it is vintage (thanks grandma). My favorite is the white with tiny red flowers.
I made the strap using the bottom cuffs of some capris that I had, and the handle is the waist of a couple pairs of jeans. Nice and durable! You could even use this idea for a yoga mat strap.
Tutorial time! First get a pile of old jeans. Yikes! These things have seen better days! Cut them up into 6 inch squares. You want 6 piles of 12 squares for a total of 72. I separated them out by color/shade to make a pattern.
Next cut 6 different cotton fabrics into 6 inch squares. Cut out 12 of each. Lay them out 12 squares x 12 squares. You can lay them out randomly or try to create a pattern like I did. Since I was using scraps, I didn’t have enough of some fabrics to do 12, so I improvised by adding in a couple random ones.
Piece your quilt top together using 1/4 inch seams. Sandwich your backing, batting and top together and machine quilt down all of the seams to hold everything in place. I used a double fold quilt binding that I got at the fabric store to bind the edges. See my little helpers there, waiting to test it out!
Now, I’m not going to give you a tutorial on how to make a quilt because that would require like 10 separate tutorials or one really long one. And… in the words of Sweet Brown, “Ain’t nobody got time for dat!” Instead, I will direct you to a couple videos that helped me out. Click here for the one I used to chain piece it together and click here for the video on how to do the corners on the binding. Note that on that second video, they used a smaller binding, so you will have to change your measurements accordingly. If you have never made a quilt, you will need to find a few more tutorials.
The ants are simply 3 little french knots with 4 little leggies and 2 little antennae. I used a full strand of embroidery floss and stitched them on before doing the final stitching on the binding. And yes, I sewed through the top of the binding to attach it. Quilters, look away! “Stitching in the ditch” was not working for me, and my only other option was to hand stitch the back… I know I don’t need to quote Sweet Brown again…
To make the straps that go around the blanket, I cut the bottom cuffs off of some stretchy capri pants that I had. They had these handy buttons on them that are perfect to wrap around the blanket. Unless you have these exact capris (they were actually some Maternity ones) then you will have to come up with something else.
I shouldn’t have cut them so close to the edge because it would have been easier to hem… oh well. I just rolled the raw edge over and zigzagged it to prevent fraying.
The handle is from the waist of two pairs of my husband’s jeans. His aren’t stretchy like mine, better for a handle. For these, I just cut REALLY close to the edge since the waist is already hemmed on both sides. I cut them again after this photo to get closer.
Remove all of the belt loops and tags and sew the two pieces together to form a long strap. I just put one end on top of the other and sewed them with a zigzag to keep it flat.
At this point, I rolled up the blanket to get everything where I wanted. Fold in thirds and roll tightly. When I got everything where I wanted it, the two cuffs were 8 inches apart from each other.
Cut the strap to your desired length and sew the other ends together to form a circle. If it looks like some kind of weird dog leash/harness, you have done it right! 🙂
That’s it! Hope you are having a wonderful Summer! We are loving our new picnic quilt!
Milena Yancheva says
July 6, 2013 at 5:42 amWow! Very good work! Well done!
And fabrics is just gorgeus!
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs!!!
Jessica Anderson says
July 8, 2013 at 3:42 amThanks Milena!
Ana Lopes says
July 7, 2013 at 7:06 pmWow!!! This is an amazing work! LOVE IT!!! All details are great! Would love to have you visit me sometime.
Have a fabulous week!
Hugs from Portugal,
Ana Love Craft
http://www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com
mel m. m. mccarthy says
July 8, 2013 at 5:08 pmThis is incredible! I need to learn to quilt. And your embroidered ants are cute beyond belief!
Navy Wifey Peters says
July 9, 2013 at 12:19 amNice quilt and I love the carrying strap you made! Great idea!!!
Navy Wifey Peters @ Submarine Sunday Link Party
amy mayen says
July 9, 2013 at 3:15 amThat’s sweet!! I love your denim carrier too!
Jessica Anderson says
July 9, 2013 at 2:51 pmThanks, Amy!
Jamie @ Huckleberry Love says
July 9, 2013 at 3:18 amThis is sooo cute! I love the colours and the little ant details. I would love for you to come and share this at our Much Ado About Monday link party! As a bonus we are also having a great giveaway. 🙂
http://www.huckleberrylove.com/2013/07/much-ado-about-monday-no-17-and-great.html
Hope to see you there,
Jamie
http://www.huckleberrylove.com
Quilting Buttercup says
July 9, 2013 at 2:29 pmGreat idea and the quilt’s really cute!
Jessica Anderson says
July 9, 2013 at 2:51 pmThank you!
sew sweet vintage says
July 10, 2013 at 11:25 pmLove your carry quilt! Great upcycle with denim:) http://www.sewsweetvintage.com/2013/07/vintage-swimwear.html
Reduce, Reuse, Renewed says
July 13, 2013 at 4:32 pmThe ants on the back are such a whimsical touch! Great idea!
Kaysi @ Keeping it Simple says
July 14, 2013 at 2:36 amThat is such a great idea, I love it!!!
My name is Rita says
July 14, 2013 at 2:40 amWOW! gorgeous quilt! And the carry handle is so cute! Thank you so much for linking up, I will be featuring this on my next party.
Connie Nelson says
July 15, 2013 at 12:32 amWhat a great job you did! Nice corners on the binding and I love your shoulder strap idea! I have planned to make a picnic quilt out of denim for years! Wanted to give one to each of my kids (they are adults now) but still haven’t started the first one. One good thing about waiting though, denim thee days is not as heavy or hard to sew as it use to be. I’ll will make sure to look for newer jeans to use. Thanks for showing us! Pinned it 🙂
Carol A. says
December 14, 2013 at 11:13 amI love your picnic quilt. To me this is what a patchwork quilt really is-beautiful, simple and reusing fabric. It makes me happy.
Jessica Anderson says
December 17, 2013 at 4:45 amThanks Carol! I love getting it out for picnics!
Carol A. says
December 14, 2013 at 11:15 amI love your picnic quilt. To me this is what a patchwork quilt really is-beautiful, simple and reusing fabric.It makes me happy when I look at it
Amanda says
March 17, 2014 at 12:51 pmSince Facebook is notorious for not letting page owners know when I tag them, I thought I would stop by myself and let you know I featured this post and my readers loved it! https://www.facebook.com/CraftsbyAmanda/photos/a.353593675216.349539.323548680216/10153939512865217/?type=1&stream_ref=10
Jessica Anderson says
March 22, 2014 at 8:12 pmThanks for sharing it Amanda!
Marissa @ Life is Fantasmic says
May 23, 2014 at 11:58 amI absolutely love it!!! I’ll be featuring this tomorrow to kick off my new Saturday Dishes Link Party since I won’t have any real features yet! The theme this weekend is Memorial Day & Grilling so I thought that your picnic quilt would be perfect! http://lifeisfantasmic.blogspot.com/
Jessica Anderson says
May 23, 2014 at 11:21 pmThanks, Marissa! I’ll be over to check it out tomorrow!
Anna says
May 28, 2014 at 3:18 pmAdorable quilt and strap. I think the strap would be great for my yoga mat!!!
cutesycrafts says
June 2, 2014 at 8:38 pmThanks, Anna! Yep, that’s where I got the idea… from our yoga mat strap! 🙂
Patricia Jackson says
March 30, 2016 at 5:30 amGorgeous idea! The best project for recycling jeans I’ve seen. My girls will fall in love with this idea too. We have a stack of old jeans in the basement that will be perfect for this project. Thank you for sharing this inspiration!
Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says
March 30, 2016 at 3:50 pmThanks so much, Patrica! So glad you like it. Our blanket has gotten so much use. We love it!
Jacy says
June 15, 2016 at 11:22 amI’m getting ready to make my first Jean quilt, and after scouring Pinterest, I’ve decided yours is my favorite!!!! My question is this… I was thinking I’d use flannel pieces, but your tutorial says cotton. Why cotton? I’m a beginner. Thanks 🙂
Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says
June 21, 2016 at 8:46 pmSo glad you like it! I think you’d be perfectly fine using flannel. Cotton is just what I had and is what is traditionally used to make quilts. Good luck with your first quilt!
Noreen-Ann says
July 7, 2017 at 6:02 pmI’m in the process of making a denim quilt…using red’s and white’s….I found some awesome fabric that has some stars and stripes in whites, reds and some blues! I’m calling it my America quilt. This will be a gift to my son who was born on July 4th! He loves things made from the heart.
My question to you is did you use cotton for the backing (red check) or is it a little heavy like a light-weight canvas?
Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says
July 18, 2017 at 3:02 pmHow fun! It was just a regular cotton fabric.
Pam long says
April 28, 2018 at 7:56 pmLove your picnic quilt. I have my son’s jeans he passed away,20yrs ago I have been waiting for a quilt to make finally I found it. Thank you so much it is perfect.
Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says
May 1, 2018 at 12:59 pmOh thank you so much. I’m sorry to hear about your son’s passing. What a beautiful way to remember him! I made Christmas ornaments out of my grandpa’s clothing, and my family treasures them. So glad you are able to use this tutorial for such a special purpose!