Saturday, February 18, 2012

Denim Rag Quilt

www.thegrantlife.com





My hubby had a brother get married last May.  I decided to make them something for a wedding gift and decided on a denim/flannel rag quilt.  So I did a little inquiring and found out they planned on getting a queen sized bed.  I'd never done a rag quilt that large before, but decided it would be a good challenge.  Bring it!  Right?!


This brother has dreamed of being a pilot for the Air Force his whole life, and was pursuing that dream through the ROTC.  I decided to use blue denim and red and white flannel for this patriotic boy.  I started to make my sandwiches and played around with the layout.





About the time I had enough sandwiches made I found out they had changed their plans and were now getting a KING SIZED BED!!  Yikes!  So I calculated, and schemed, and scratched my head.  I calculated what kind of border I could add, how much extra it would cost.  Ouch -- all of the calculations and numbers were hurting my head!  I couldn't believe how much extra it was going to cost to increase the size.


So I compromised.  I made it large enough to cover the top of a king sized bed, but not hang over the edges.  I was still one HUGE beast to sew together in the end.  After I had all of my squares sewed into rows, I sewed the rows together into two big halves.  Then I called on my hubby and he helped support the weight of the two halves as I sewed them together and sewed around the edges.  It was still insane to maneuver even with his help!


I wanted it a little more personal so I had my dear friend Amy, from The Lily Pad Shop do a custom embroidered square for me.  She does great work!  You should check her out. :)



25 comments:

  1. Thank you so very much for participating in the blog hop! Wishing you the very best in your bloggy endeavors! Cheers!

    Kelly
    www.livelaughrowe.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. and WE LOVE IT!!! Thanks so much for this quilt! It has kept us very warm on the cold Logan winter nights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad it's keeping you warm! Now you just need to get a bun in the oven so I can make you guys a baby quilt. :)

      Delete
  3. I love the colors. The red and white are perfect with the denim. I'd love for you to share this at my link party. It runs Tues-Sat.
    Rachel
    http://adventuresofadiymom.blogspot.com/2012/02/terrific-tuesdays-3.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Rachel! I have you on my list of Link Parties! You'll be seeing more of me. :)

      Delete
  4. That turned out so cute!! I love the colors. So fun!! Thanks for sharing this as well at Thursday's Temptation.
    Jill

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, you are nice to make a queen sized quilt for someone else!! Your hands must ache from all that cutting!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank heavens for spring-loaded snips! And my hubby helped with the "ragging." :) Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  6. Wow that is a labor of love! It turned out really cute. I really like the emboidered square, that is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My friend who did the embroidery does great work! Thanks for the kind comment!

      Delete
  7. Wow! That is so beautiful. I love the label, too. I will check out her shop!

    P.S. Would you please consider disabling your word verification?

    ReplyDelete
  8. That is amazing! Good job. The commemorative square is the perfect addition. What a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a great gift! I'm sure they'll love it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love this too you are just full of great ideas...Thanks for linking up@CountryMommaCooks

    ReplyDelete
  11. That's a great gift and the quilt looks awesome! My friend makes these rag quilts too, and I just love that style! It's so fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! They are such a forgiving kind of quilt to make! I highly suggest them. :)

      Delete
  12. I have always wanted to make a denim quilt but I've never gotten around to it. I've heard they are VERY heavy. A friend of mine made a twin and said it was heavy, I can't imagine the weight of the king topper! I really like the denim/flannel combo. So, you made sandwiches as you went and then didn't have to back it? Very creative way to do it all at once.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm saving up our old denim to someday make us a denim quilt. One day...but I think I'll put the denim aside for a while. Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  13. What an undertaking! I can only imagine how heavy that was to sew!! I'm sure they'll be just thrilled with it, too. Awesome! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for following and I got you back!

    ReplyDelete
  15. You are very talented! This is great! Happy to have you at Things I've Done Thursday! www.bearrabbitbear.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. How cute!! I have made a denim rag quilt and they are HEAVY!! Good call getting the hubby to help. The embroidered square is perfect! I am sure they loved it. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Link It Up Thursday this week.:)

    ReplyDelete
  17. The row of white really makes the whole quilt come together brilliantly. Love it!!! I'm hoping to make a small denim rag quilt for Christmas. Realistically, I probably won't get it done, but at least I'll make a start.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Lovely! What size were your squares?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe they were 10 inches. These are some of the largest ones I've used for a rag quilt.

      Delete

I'd love to hear from you!