A Friday Finish -- Denim Rag Quilt

Just in time for tomorrows baseball game, I have a finished Denim Rag Quilt.

Denim Rag Quilt

I used a total of 221 - 5" Squares. And I still have about a million more 5" denim squares plus all my other denim cut-ups. I'll be sewing denim forever.

I had never made a rag quilt before, and found it was rather fun to do. I didn't worry about accuracy or quilting. I just zoomed through it. If I make another one, I'll make sure to sew a 1/3" seam allowance instead of the standard 1/4" seam allowance. All the tutorials said to increase the seam allowance, but I raced through this and didn't even pause to think about changing the seam allowance. Oh well.

Denim Rag Quilt

MK saw me taking pictures of this and immediately tried to snuggle into the quilt. She wrapped it around herself and said "Oh! This is so cozy!" I was having a hard time getting it away from her to take more pictures....but that's ok. I think she makes a pretty great model. 

Denim Rag Quilt

So happy to have this completed. We'll be taking this to the baseball game tomorrow. Depending on the weather, we could be wrapping this around ourselves or we could be laying it on the grass to sit on.

Linked up with TIGFF here.
Linked up with Link-a-Finish Friday here.
Linked up with A Lovely Year of Finishes here.

WIP Wednesday # 36 -- In Need of a Warm Outside Quilt

I'm tired of being cold. It's supposed to be spring! Not the rainy, windy, cold kind of spring. I want the warm, sun is shining, flowers blooming kind of spring. 

This year, I am determined to have a cozy outside quilt to keep me warm while I sit on the sidelines of baseball games and soccer tournaments. And when the warm, sun is shining, flowers blooming kind of spring finally arrives, this quilt can be a spread out on the grass for more sideline fun or summer picnics. 

Babco Unlimited - The Denim Project 

  For this denim rag quilt, I've sewn up these denim and flannel 5" squares. There are 224 squares! And can you believe I have barely made a dent in my denim? I'm still swimming in old denim. There will be more denim projects in the future.

WIP Wednesday #35 -- The Denim Project Continues

Babco Unlimited - The Denim Project

I'm working on my denim rag quilt. I'm excited to have this for the chilly nights at the ballpark. Last night was another game in the wind and occasional rain. Once it warms up, this will be a great blanket to sit on. However, right now I'm looking forward to the warmth.

I've cut up all my flannel pieces, and I'm all ready to sew them all together.

Linked up with WIP Wednesday here.

Spring is Here!

Spring is here! And so is spring ball. It's Baseball season and Soccer season. With all the time I'm spending at the ballparks on the sidelines cheering on my kids, the more I realize it is finally time to finish at least ONE of my denim projects--just an easy peasy denim rag quilt that I can take to the ballpark. 

I have all the pieces--TONS of denim I've pre-cut into 5" pieces and flannel fabric. I have denim needles and cotton thread. What more do I need?

Babco Unlimited - The Denim Project

My goal for May: A Denim Rag Quilt.

Ready, Set, GO!

Linked up with Lovely Year of Finishes here.

March Goals

I just love the name of this project --  A Little Bit Shorter Tall Tree by Cindi Edgerton.

A Little Bit Shorter Tall Tree

(Pattern can be found here.)

My mom, aunt, and I had a sew day yesterday. We "shopped" from my mom's fabric stash. This is only part of her stash:

I had such a fun time hanging out with my mom and aunt. We chatted while we sewed, told stories, laughed over mistakes, shared tips, and helped with fabric choices.

This pattern is so well written! It is incredibly easy to follow. She gives detailed instructions on each step with so many tips to get great results.

I didn't get a whole lot done because my day was cut short when my oldest son called me from school saying he didn't feel well. He's doing much better today, thankfully.

Well, here's to starting yet another project!

Linked up with Let's Bee Social here.
Linked up with WIP Wednesday here.

WIP Wednesday #34 - The Denim Project

I couldn't resist starting one of my Denim Projects as soon as I got my machine back. It was just too tempting! I mean--all this fabric is just laying all over my sewing room practically begging to be made into something new and fun.

Even though I have about bajillion 5" squares, I didn't want to start that project. That would be too sensible. No, I had to start something completely different. Because it is different and, therefore, fun. In my pintrest search for something fun to do with my jeans, I found this amazing jeans string quilt. And I knew I had my next project.

Denim Strip Quilt

At first, I was cutting out 5" squares out of my denim and then setting aside the "scraps" for this quilt. But I quickly ran out of scraps. I've since just cut a few pairs of my old jeans into different size strips to use.

I'm loving it. It has a WOW factor, don't you think?

Not sure how big I'll make it. My hubby wants it to be BIG so the whole family can sit on it at once. That would mean hunting down another pair of light wash jeans for my center strip. (Before I committed to this project, I cut the one pair of light wash jeans I had into 5" squares with only a little left for this project. Oops.)


I need some feedback: How should I finish this quilt?

• Should I finish this traditionally? Sew all the blocks together. Add batting, Add a Backing. Quilt it.
• Should I tie the quilt? Sew all blocks together. Add batting. Add a backing. Tie it.
• Should I make this a rag quilt? Add batting and backing to each square. Quilt 2 diagonal lines through the center. Then sew all squares together?
• Should I make this just a denim blanket? Just sew all the blocks together. No batting, No backing. Seams exposed on the back. 
• Any other ideas?

I need some help on this so please, PLEASE give me some ideas.


Linked up with WIP Wednesday here.
Linked up with Let's Bee Social here.

A Denim Waistband Project

Now that I have this big pile of leftover seams, waistbands, zippers, and pockets I'm wondering if I should do something with them as well.

 It just feels like such a waste to throw those away. This sent me back to pintrest for more denim inspiration, and I found these beauties that really struck me.

(Image source: Denim Ottoman, Denim Flag)

I found this cute jean waistband ottoman on pintrest--followed the link to Nordstrom's of all places! But I think this would be a fun thing to do for my boys. Not sure how comfortable a metal button pillow would be, so jury is still out on that one.

More time on pintrest also brought up this denim waistband American Flag. So cool!

So, I am no longer going to throw out my pile of "leftovers." I've cut off the seams and thrown those away. But I've bagged the rest for a future waistband project.

February Goals Finished

I think this is the first time I've finished my goals early in the month. Usually, I'm scrambling the last couple of days to get things all done. I think it had something to do with the fact that I was without a sewing machine for a large part of the month. It forced me to really focus--I was limited in what I could do, so I wasn't as easily distracted. 

GOAL #1: PREP ALL JEANS FOR SEWING

I had so many holey jeans they could no longer fit in my very large storage bin. So, the denim project was born. My goal was to turn all the jeans I had into fabric for other projects. I cut and cut until I had huge piles of 5" squares and 2-1/2" strips.

Babco Unlimited - The Denim Project

I have left a small pile of denim fabric: jeans I've cut away all the seams and holes, but haven't cut into any predetermined size. I did this because there are other things I want to make with my jeans that require other sizes cut from the jeans--I just haven't committed to the project yet.

Babco Unlimited - The Denim Project

Besides, I have a bajillion 5" squares. It was starting to get boring. 

GOAL #2: PREP OLD ITALIAN PAPER FOUNDATION PIECES

I was able to fold and prep about 45 pieces of vellum paper for my Old Italian Project. It is a bit time consuming to make sure each fold is perfect (or pretty close to perfect), but it is worth it in the end.

I put on a show and sat at my mom's light box and folded and folded and folded. By the time my movie was over, I had all my printed vellum paper folded and ready for the next stage.

I will be doing this again and again as I need about 194 blocks for my Queen sized quilt. So far I've only sewn 57 blocks. So, I have a ways to go on this. I think I know what will be part of my goals for next month.


I love being part of A Lovely Year of Finishes. It is so helpful to me to make small goals, be held accountable for them, and mark my successes and failures.

Liked up with A Lovely Year of Finishes here.

The Casualties of Denim

It's fun to recycle (or upcycle) your denim. But denim does have a habit of leaving casualties in its wake. My sewing room has looked like a denim slaughter house for the past several weeks.

The first casualty is the pile of scraps from all the jeans I cut up. I'm left with a pile of seams, waistbands, zippers, and pockets. 

I think the true casualty of working with denim is the damage it does to your rotary blade. I'm already on my second blade and will be changing again soon. It's getting dull and not cutting as well.

Not only that, but I broke my seam ripper while working on this project. I took off the back pockets so I could use all that denim below it....and possibly do something with pockets later, not quite sure yet. I was overly aggressive on one pocket and snapped my seam ripper. Oops. 

It's ok. I ran to JoAnn's with my coupon and purchased a new one. Crisis averted!

50 Shades of Denim

I sorted my denim by shade and discovered we love dark wash denim in this household. I only had one pair of jeans I would consider "light" wash. 

So what did I do? I went to the local thrift store and bought the ugliest pair of men's jeans for $4.00. Seriously, very ugly. Tapered leg. WIDE top. I think I was doing the world a favor for purchasing this pair of jeans and getting it off the streets. 

Now, my denim rainbow is looking more like this:

Babco Unlimited - The Denim Project

Well, to be more precise, my denim rainbow used to look like that. I've been busy turning this mass of holey jeans into an assortment of denim fabric for other projects. I put on a show/movie to keep me entertained while I cut, trim, and slaughter each pair.

February Goals

So, thanks to my broken sewing machine January's goals are a wash. Boo! I still don't have my machine back yet. But soon. Hopefully. Finger's crossed. Please let it be soon!

Deep breath.

Since I don't have a machine right now, and I don't know exactly when I'll get it back, I think I need to play it safe on my February goals and pick a few non-sewing goals.

• GOAL #1: PREP ALL JEANS FOR SEWING

I have LOTS of denim to cut up. After cleaning out my sons' closet, I discovered I had an abundance of denim. So, I need to cut them up. It's time to change my holey jeans into piles of fabric. I plan on cutting them into piles of 5" squares, 2-1/2" strips, and scraps for a string quilt. 

Babco Unlimited - The Denim Project

I have lots of ideas on what to do within these piles and piles of denim fabric.

• GOAL # 2: PREP OLD ITALIAN PAPER FOUNDATION PIECES

This is one of my "Long-Term" projects because of how time consuming it is and because I plan on making this a Queen Sized quilt for my bed.

Babco Unlimited - Old Italian Quilt in Progress

One of the reasons this project takes a long time is the time it takes to prepare the foundation paper. It really is ingenious how it all comes together, but takes some time.

I have a stack of Translucent Vellum Paper all printed with the pattern ready for my next step: Folding.

The way this pattern works, you use a light box (or use this iPad/tablet app hack if you don't have a light box) to match up lines and pre-fold your pattern. This way, you can sew on the lines without wasting any fabric. It also has the added benefit of keeping directional fabric intact.


Well, it's off to my sewing room to not sew.

Linked up with Lovely Year of Finishes here.

The Denim Project

A couple weeks ago, I went through my sons' closets. I cleared out all their jeans that had massive holes or were too small. My 9 year-old son had 8 pairs to donate to this project. EIGHT! I stuffed all these cast-offs into my denim bin and could hardly close the lid. I knew it was time to get to work.

Babco Unlimited - The Denim Project

With my (good) sewing machine still at the Sewing Machine Hospital, I've been keeping busy with non-sewing machine projects. There are always tons of non sewing projects to work on. Or always a project I can do all the prep work for. However, suddenly all I can think of doing are projects that require a sewing machine! Why is it always like that?

I already have a large pile of 5" squares cut, which started to feel boring. So I decided I needed to find other ways to use up my stash.

After spending some time on pintrest, I've discovered many other denim projects. Here are some of my favorite denim quilts.

Image sources clockwise starting top-left: strippy quilt, denim cathedral window, triangle quilt, climbing the walls

It's okay to have lots of ideas...I obviously have a lot of denim to cut up. And with 3 active kids, I think I will always have a supply of old denim.

Linked up with Let's Bee Social here.