DIY Wedding
How to Make a Super-Simple Recycled Quilt
January 23rd, 2009 in sewing, restyle, home decorating, quilting
Diane Gilleland, contributor
38 users recommend
Showcase your favorite vintage sheets by transforming them into a cozy quilt. You don't need any special equipment or prior quilting experience.
Photo: Diane Gilleland
I love pretty vintage sheets, and this project is a great way to show them off. It's also a good, basic introduction to quilting—if you've never made a quilt before, I guarantee you can make this one.
What you'll need:
- Two sheets (see notes below)
- One blanket (see notes below)
- Scissors
- Large safety pins
- Sewing machine
- Coordinating thread
- Hand-sewing needle
- Tapestry needle with sharp point
- Thimble (optional)
- Sport- or worsted-weight yarn
Let's talk materials: When you're at the thrift store looking for supplies for this project, keep a few things in mind. First, your two sheets and blanket should all be roughly the same size—I used two twin sheets and a twin blanket. And be sure to check over all three pieces carefully for stains and rips. The blanket will be completely hidden, so it can be a little beat up, but the sheets should be in good shape.
In addition, the blanket you select for this project should be fairly thin. A cotton or wool blanket would work best, but you can also work with a fleece blanket, as I have here. The blanket can have a print on it, since it will be hidden. Just check your sheets to make sure the blanket won't show through them.
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Lay the two sheets out, right sides together. |
To get started, wash all three pieces and press the sheets. Then, clear a large floor space and lay the sheets out flat, right sides together. Line them up along one edge—I usually use the bottom edge. (The other edges may or may not match—twin sheets come in a variety of sizes. But don't worry about this for now.)
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Lay the blanket on top of the stacked sheets. Line up the edge 2 inches from the edges of the sheets. |
Now, place the blanket on top of the sheets. Line up one edge of the blanket about 2 inches away from the lined-up edge of the sheets.
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Place safety pins all over the blanket, pinning all three layers together. |
This next step is the key to your success with this project: safety pins! One of the reasons a quilt project can seem challenging is its size—it's not easy wrangling all those large pieces of fabric. That's where safety pins come in—and lots of them.
Large safety pins are easiest to work with, but you can use smaller ones. Pin them through all three layers at roughly 3-inch intervals. Cover the entire surface of the blanket with safety pins, making sure that the blanket is lying flat as you pin.
Once the three layers are securely pinned together, you can move them around for cutting and sewing.
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Trim the sheets and blanket to the same size. |
Trim the sheets and blanket to the same size on three sides. My blanket is a bit smaller than my sheets, so I trimmed the sheets to match it. If your sheets are smaller, you can trim the blanket to match them.
However, do not trim the fourth edge (the one pictured in the second step, where the blanket is 2 inches away from the edges of the sheet). We'll need that extra sheet material a bit later.
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Machine-sew the layers together around three sides. |
Machine-sew along the three trimmed edges using a 5/8-inch seam allowance. Do not sew the fourth edge. Keep a close eye on the placement of those safety pins as you're sewing, so you don't accidentally sew over one and damage your machine.
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Trim the blanket close to the seam. |
Trim the blanket close to the seam. This takes some bulk out of the seam so that the whole quilt can be turned right side out more cleanly.
In addition, cut diagonally across the seam allowances of the two corners.
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Press the seam allowances open. |
One last step before we turn the quilt right side out: Press the seam allowances of the sheets open. (In this photo, the blanket is under the sheets.)
A note here: If you're using a fleece blanket, as I am, be careful about ironing directly on it. Some fleeces will melt in contact with a hot iron. Keep the iron on the sheets.
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Turn the quilt right side out, and hand-sew the raw edges closed. |
Remove all the safety pins and turn the quilt right side out. This will hide the blanket between the two sheets.
Turn under the raw edges of the sheets along the open end. Press these folded edges, then hand-sew them together. Don't worry about catching the edge of the blanket in this stitching; we'll take care of that in the next steps.
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Flatten out the quilt and safety pin along all four edges. |
Flatten the quilt back out, making sure the blanket is lying flat inside the two sheets. Place safety pins at 4-inch intervals around the edges to help hold the blanket in place while you're working on the next step.
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Tie-quilting: Take a small stitch through all three layers of the quilt. |
To finish off our quilt, we need to bind the three layers of fabric together all over. If you have a sewing machine that's suited for it, you can always machine-sew all over the surface of the quilt in any pattern that strikes your fancy. Here, however, we're going to use a simpler method called tie-quilting.
Thread some sport- or worsted-weight yarn onto a large-eyed needle with a sharp point. Take a small stitch through all three layers of the quilt, as shown. Make sure the needle passes all the way through the bottom sheet. You may find a thimble useful here.
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Trim the ends of the yarn short. |
Cut the yarn so you have two lengths of about 2 inches sticking up from the quilt, as shown.
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Tie the ends in a tight double knot, and trim to 1/2 inch. |
Tie these two ends in a tight double-knot and trim them to about 1/2 inch. Repeat this process to place more ties all over the quilt.
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A view of the ties from the back of the quilt. |
Here's a view of the ties from the back of the quilt. You can place your ties in any configuration you like. Mine are in a grid pattern, with about 4 inches between ties. The main point is to spread the ties all over the quilt so that the blanket doesn't shift around inside the sheets.
You can be precise about the placement of the ties, measuring the distances between each one, but I find that since they're a fairly subtle part of the overall quilt design, it's easier to line them up visually.
Once your ties are in place, your quilt is ready to use! See, that wasn't so hard...
Comments (22)
Posted: 9:09 am on June 4th
Posted: 9:17 pm on May 21st
Posted: 7:12 pm on May 16th
Fantastic idea!!....
Hopefuly I will be able to use all of the
wool blankets my dd insists on buying
for me but I'm unable to use due to
alergy to wool.
Posted: 8:44 pm on May 15th
Posted: 1:35 am on April 1st
Posted: 9:37 pm on March 14th
Posted: 10:00 am on March 2nd
Posted: 10:25 pm on February 1st
Posted: 7:56 pm on January 29th
Posted: 10:47 am on January 29th
I can't wait to get started!
Thanks Again
Amy
http://vintagechicken.blogspot.com/
Posted: 1:38 pm on January 26th
Posted: 3:25 pm on January 25th
Posted: 9:46 am on January 24th
This is a very versatile quilt and you can vary the look depending on what you tie with and the fabric you choose
Posted: 4:32 am on January 24th
Posted: 8:18 pm on January 23rd
Posted: 7:59 pm on January 23rd
Last night,while beginning my first "practice" quilt, I wondered to myself if I could replace batting with a perfectly good fleece quilt that I have (one that is also perfectly UGLY). Now I know it's worth trying. Thanks much for the inspiration!
Posted: 5:53 pm on January 23rd
Posted: 5:00 pm on January 23rd
Posted: 4:56 pm on January 23rd
Posted: 4:20 pm on January 23rd
Posted: 2:45 pm on January 23rd
One tip for next time you tie a quilt-- you can also thread the yarn through the entire width of the quilt (like a big, spaced out running stitch, inserting your needle wherever you want a tied place to be) and then cut the yarn halfway between each needle insertion and do the tying all at once. That will make it a little easier to see the "grid" while you are making your running stitch, and there will be less stopping, starting, wondering where the scissors went, etc.
Posted: 12:25 pm on January 23rd