MOSES LAKE — Keri Perez said what started it all was the quilt made out of old jeans.

“I grew up with a blanket my dad had – it was a huge jean blanket,” she said.

The fabric came from her dad’s jeans. It was denim on both sides, very heavy, and her dad really liked it. He liked it so much that he paid a quilt maker to take more of his old jeans and make quilts for each of his kids.

“He gifted each of us a jean blanket. Then when I moved back home to Moses Lake, I wanted one for my kids, so I just made a couple for my kids,” she said. “Then my dad had more jeans, and rather than paying another gal to put them together, he had me start putting them together. And for him I probably did (about) 45 blankets.”

Perez said they went to family members – all the grandkids got one, for instance – but by then he had the fabric bug, with all those cool fabrics for quilt backs out there.

“He got caught up in buying fabric, I think. He says he has enough for 60 more of his own blankets,” she said.

Making all those quilts gave Perez the bug too, and led to her business, KP Denim. She can be found on social media under KP Denim.

“I kind of started buying flannel, started making my own. And then I did my first show – years ago, I did the (Moses Lake) farmers market when it was at Frontier (Middle School), in the gym. I was so excited, because I sold one blanket. That made my day to be able to sell that one blanket,” she said.

That was about a decade ago, and she’s been making and selling since. Along with selling at craft bazaars and craft fairs she takes custom orders. By mid-December she had six orders for Christmas gifts.

She’s looking at expanding her repertoire, she said, using the denim salvaged from old jeans for projects like aprons and stuffed animals.

Most of her quilts have a flannel backing, although a few have been made with fleece. Like most quilters and garment sewers, Perez has plenty of material to work with.

“There are so many choices for flannels now, I kind of get caught up buying flannel,” she said. “The last time I counted I think I have 115 (quilt) backs.”

Most of the quilt tops are cut from classic blue jeans, provided by family and friends. A quilt she showed to a visitor recently had accents in turquoise and yellow among others, matching colors in the quilt back.

“Those are the ones I usually end up paying for at garage sales and thrift stores,” she said of the colored jeans. “I’ll try and take a few pieces of colored jeans that match the back fabric and incorporate it, but in no particular pattern.”

She doesn’t really use a pattern, she said, preferring to work freehand. She cuts strips from six to eight and a half inches wide, then sews them into strips that are about 82 inches long.

“Then I figure out how many of each strip I need,” she said, “and then I just put it together.”

She prefers to use pieces from the entire pair of jeans, from the waistband to the hem.

“I like to make sure there are at least five to eight pockets on each blanket. Just for fun,” she said.

Sometimes there’s extra detail, a zipper placket, a button fly, a section of the waistband.

“As I cut the jeans, I’ll (think) ‘Oh, I think I could use this whole pocket, if it’s wide enough,” she said. “Or a placket. Some of them, the pockets get slightly cut off because I can’t make (the strips) bigger.”

Perez uses an assembly line process to make her quilts, starting by cutting strips.

“Sometimes I’ll just sit and cut up jeans. And sometimes I’ll sit and sew enough strips for the top of a blanket. And then I’ll sew, like, three tops. And then I’ll get the backs ready,” she said.

Denim makes an excellent medium for long-wearing quilts, she said.

“It’s just really durable. It’ll keep its shape. It washes well – it’s already been washed by the time I get it, and 99% of the time I’ll wash it again,” Perez said.

In addition, every pair of used jeans reflects the person that wore them, and each quilt is different as a result.

“They’re just unique things. Sometimes the pocket will have (the shape of) a man’s wallet in it. You’ll see the wear from the wallet. That kind of gives it a little more character,” she said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached at [email protected].