Deer Tracks Denim Quilt; quilt preparation for custom longarm quilting

Seams in dire need of pressing

Quilt preparation.  So important.  This is the wrong side of a pieced denim quilt my customer prepared beautifully, except for the pressing.  This customer did everything right.  She knew that with all these intersections of blue jean denim, she stitched the seams at 1/2" so they could be pressed open.

All seams pressed open

Pressing seams open gives less stability than pressing them to one side, so instead of the normal 1/4" seam, she went with a 1/2" seam.  Smart lady.  This is a king size quilt, so pressing was a bit daunting for her, so she left that for me.  No problem on my big 4' x 8' table.

What a difference pressing makes.  Remember...  press, don't iron.  I used just a spritz of water and steam.  For more info on quilt preparation, check out my website.

Now let me tell you the story behind this quilt.  You'll love this....  This customer, Mary, is in her 80's.  And for many years she collected jeans worn by her sons and grandson.  Cut them onto 6" squares and pieced them into this wonderful top.  Can you imaging how many pairs of jeans it would take for this 100"x100" quilt?  The blocks in this quilt are well worn with mended holes, stains, scrapes, etc.  And every one of them contains a memory.  Mary made this quilt to be gifted to her grandson.  The grandson is a hunter, and a grown man, so we chose a cool deer tracks edge to edge design to quilt this with.  Check it out.  It looks like a herd of deer walked across this quilt.  So fun!  The design is by Urban Elements, and the name is, of course, "Deer Tracks".

the back of the quilt

I used YLI Cotton Variegated Machine Quilting thread in a Plum variegated on the top, and Superior Threads So Fine in black on the back of this quilt.

And for a full view of the finished top, here it is.

This is another awesome example of a memory quilt, or even a history quilt.  It's full of memories of the boys and men who wore all these jeans, and tells a bit of their history.  A fun quilt which I'm sure will become a treasure for this family.

I thank Mary for allowing me to quilt this for her.  And if you have a similar quilt in need of quilting, I would be honored to quilt it for you.  You can find more information on me and my services on my website, Quilts By Hannelore  or call me at 231-970-1340.  Thank you, Hannelore