How to Make an Easy Quilt With Old Denim Jeans

Use a variety of denim colors for a cool finish.

You may think your old jeans are useless, but in fact you can make something quite beautiful out of them. Your old jeans can be cut into denim squares and then pieced together as a quilt. Heavy denim yields a quilt that is perfect for keeping you warm on those cold winter nights. It will take six to seven pairs of jeans to put together a large quilt. If you don't have enough of your own, purchase some at a thrift store. Don't be afraid to use different shades of denim. The variety will give your quilt a beautiful finish.

Things You'll Need

• Denim jeans
• Scissors
• Rotary cut
• Gridded cutting mat
• Quilting ruler
• Sewing machine
• 4 yards flannel -- 2 yards each of two colors

Instructions

1. Lay your first pair of jeans out flat, right side up, and cut up one of the legs along the inside seam. Cut all the way up along the zipper.

2. Open the pants up and lay them out flat.

3. Cut up along the center back seam to separate the two pieces.

4. Cut out as many 10-inch squares as possible. Simply lay your denim on your cutting mat and lay the quilting ruler on top. Cut out your 10-by-10-inch block with the rotary cutter. You can use pieces with seams and pieces without. This will give the quilt a nice look.

5. Cut two 10-inch-square pieces of flannel for each denim square. You can choose any color flannel.

6. Lay the denim square right side up on top of the two pieces of flannel. The piece of flannel on the bottom of the stack will be the back of your quilt, so keep that in mind.

7. Draw an "X" in chalk on the denim square, connecting the four corners.

8. Make sure the edges of the denim square are lined up with the flannel squares and sew the three pieces together along the "X" you drew.

9. Sew the rest of your squares the same way. For a large quilt you will want about 48 squares, but you can use less for a smaller one.

10. Lay two squares on top of each other with the flannel sides together and sew a 1/2-inch seam along the edge.

11. Unfold the two squares and continue sewing the squares together. If you are using 48 squares you will want the top row to have six squares. To begin the next row sew the bottom of the first square to the top of another; the next square will be sewn to the square above and squares to the left and right. There should be seven rows when you're finished.

Tips & Warnings

• Make cuts in the finished seams 1/2 inch apart to give the quilt a fun, frayed finish. Wash and dry the quilt to fluff up the cut edges.