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A Rag Quilt for Dad

Let's see... Has it really been two months since my last blog entry here?! 

Where to start?
...Well, I've done a bit of sewing since my last post. 

I made a denim rag quilt for my father's 50th birthday, back in November. 

The "sandwiches" were denim on the front and flannel on the back, but because the denim was all fairly lightweight (for denim), I decided to put in a middle layer cut from a retired sheet.  (According to my mother, who has also used it, it's very warm, so that's good to know!)

To liven things up a little, I added some patches and faux chenille-style strips on the quilt top. 

(Note of possible interest:  The reason the denim was fairly lightweight was that most of it didn't come from jeans, but from a piece of denim I bought on discount from a store, a denim curtain, and a couple of denim shirts.  They all worked fine, but definitely seemed lighter weight than what you usually get from old jeans.)

Here's a not-exactly-stellar photo of the finished rag quilt:

Denim Rag Quilt

It looks pretty raggedy, huh?  But that's kind of the point... ;o)

I whipped this one up pretty quickly (and I'm not that speedy with cutting fabric and sewing).  Cutting larger squares than I used in my previous rag quilts helped speed up the process.  (That's one of the benefits of using store-bought fabric instead of recycling jeans.  You simply can't get such big squares out of most jeans, unless you include the heavy seams down the legs in your squares.)  I can't remember for certain, but I think I might have used 10-inch squares for this blanket... 

The blanket is big enough for someone my size (about 5'5") to stretch out under, with blanket to spare.  It might not be big enough to cover up a taller person quite as completely, but it's definitely enough to cover most of him/her.

December was also a busy sewing month for me, but I can't really blog about all that yet (since I'm not sure who might read this and have a surprise ruined).  Well, I've waited this long.  I guess I can wait another week or two.  :o)

I've also done some crocheting, but I think that'll have to wait until another blog entry.   I think I can safely promise that I won't take two months to get around to writing the next one, though.  (g)