Quilt for Karl

My poor neglected 9 year old! He's been too old for elephants and birdies and I spent much of my Forest Friends Flannel time on miscellaneous projects- one of which my 3 year old inherited. Now I've got Nature Walk, I knew the first project to tackle was a quilt for my son's day bed- which I've wanted to do since we got him the bed years ago.

This bed has posed a number of catches. Because of the back and arm rests, the quilt needed to fit the twin mattress exactly without overhang- it is not a standard quilt size. I also didn't want the overhang in front to drop to the floor because the style is such that the airiness should be maintained. Because you can't walk around this bed in order to make it, my son needs to climb on the covers in order to get it to the back corners- which, of course, is impossible to do when you are kneeling on it! So, the bed, unless I made it by leaning over it, was never really "made". Also, he's a kicker and thrasher at night so I wanted to make this his only blanket for warmth so he'd not get all tangled up in layers of blankets- so it needed to be pretty warm especially on these ridiculously cold nights we've been having lately.

So, my first thought was to measure it out- the mattress being 39"d x 75"w and a 9" drop. I rounded the measurements off to 40" deep with a 10" drop for a bit of give as it draped over the front edge- this put the total measurement of the quilt at 50" x 75". In this way, I could make 5 rows of 10" high blocks (by 8.5" w). Now that the quilt is finished, though I realize I could've done with an extra .25" or so on the horizontal measurement of the block to give it a slight overhang on the head and foot of bed (my infamous 20/20 hindsight). My recommendation is the measurement of the blocks including seam allowance should be 10.5" h x 9.25" w.

I laid out a grid pattern on my computer and got to cutting. I used Moss | Earth, Moss | Ocean and Leaves | Leaf (cut in both directions). The piecing went together simply and easily. Afterwards, I cut a backing from the Moss | Earth pattern to the exact measurement of the topper. Facing rights sides together, I pinned them and sewed all around leaving a 10" opening at the back edge of the quilt, through which I turned it inside out. I pressed the seams.

Rather than use my typical batting, I purchased an $8 comforter insert at IKEA which was lofty, warmish and easily adapted into a smaller size by measuring and drawing a line on the size I needed, minus 1" on the length and width to ensure it would fit well within my "cover". I used a zig zag stitch on my markings, then trimmed the excess off. If I trimmed then sewed, I would've had a messy mess with the poly filling spilling out. All in all, though a bit of a physical workout, it went quite well!

I stuffed the insert into the hole and smoothed it all out on the floor and made sure the insert was centered and not bunched up along any edge. It was much like wrangling a duvet cover. Then I pinned like mad to keep it all in place. Then I topstitched over the opening to seal it up: it doesn't show, so it didn't need to be hidden very well. I decided to go the tied quilting method for a couple of reasons: First and foremost, it's easy! But also, the insert, though it could be sewn, was sure to move around from the pressure of the foot causing puckering problems for the back. The ties also allow for the loftiness to prevail- making it a very comfy comforter indeed. My son was so happy to snuggle up underneath it last night and I was proud to have been able to make this for him (finally!).

The genius of this quilt is the ties! It's fortunate that the bed has all these rungs that I could easily tie the quilt to in order to keep it in place. This way, no matter what the flailing damage to the bedding during the night, all he needs to do is pull it forward and smooth it out. I went in the room today to find a nicely made bed! YAY!