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If you are anything like me, your family goes through lots of jeans. We love wearing our jeans and then when they are worn out or no longer fitting us we need new ones. But I didn’t want to just toss out those worn out jeans, it was time to upcycle them into something awesome.
Since denim is such a sturdy fabric I knew it would be perfect for a picnic blanket that could stand up to some use by the kids. And it has. We’ve had this blanket for 3 years and we take it everywhere. Now I’m making another one so I can keep one in the car at all times.
To really make this the best picnic blanket ever, I used a shower curtain liner as the back of the quilt. Now we don’t have to worry about our blanket getting wet from damp grass.
To make this totally awesome picnic blanket you are going to need some old jeans. My picnic blanket is 5 1/2 feet by 5 1/2 feet and it’s worked well for us. You will need about 8-12 pair of adult sized jeans to make this (depending on size and style).
You’ll need to cut 121 squares of denim that are 6 1/2 inch square. For some tips for cutting these, check out my blog post.
Next start sewing. You will need to sew up 11 rows of 11 squares. I used a 1/4 inch seam allowance and it’s all easy straight seams. After you have 11 rows you will need to sew the rows together.
To add the shower curtain to the back, you will lay out your quilt on the floor with the top facing up. Make sure you ironed all the seams nice and flat. Then lay the shower curtain liner on top of that, with the right side facing down. Pin all around the outside then sew with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Make sure to leave a 2-3 foot section unsewn to turn it.
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