The all-season home decorating project: beautiful and functional, bed quilts!
The all-season home decorating project: beautiful and functional, bed quilts!
We do spend about a third of our lives sleeping, so it’s no wonder that bedroom decorating is a priority. The central piece of furniture in any bedroom is the bed! How we adorn this furnishing determines, in large part, the comfort and beauty quotient of the entire room. Think of the most spartan of sleeping accommodations – a military barracks, where a utilitarian bed cover is tightly tucked under the mattress. While this bed offers the chance to bounce quarters, it’s hardly aesthetically appealing. Contrast this image with beds that look soft, cozy and inviting, covered in fluffy, colorful and luxurious looking bed quilts. Hey, no contest!
We most often equate bed quilts with winter, when the nights are cold and the quilt is necessary for sheer warmth. However, they’re every bit as necessary as a decorating accessory in summer. For the home decorator, bed quilts are a boon. You can purchase a quilt, but you can also easily create a custom quilt for the coming season that never goes out of style, being passed down through generations as an heirloom piece your grandchildren will treasure.
Even if you haven’t an inkling of where to begin, you can always sign up for a quilting class to learn the basics. If you just need a starting point to spark your imagination, visit the library and check out some of the many quilting pattern books. These books range from exotic and intricate appliqued or embroidered quilts, to traditional patterns and on through to what might be categorized as modern art. You’ll find these books serve as great ‘idea banks’ for bed quilts. Fabric shop pattern books also offer a range of patterns, from simple to elaborate. You’ll find choices for the novice quilter, as well as for experienced quilters. You can also find inspiration online. Let’s say you’ve got a theme in mind, such as bed quilts for children’s bedrooms. Do a Google image search on ‘children’s bed quilts’ for tens of thousands of results. Think about colors too, which will suit the room.
Naturally, the season of intended use counts. Winter calls for heavier weight fabrics, while summer bed quilts need sturdy, but lightweight fabrics. Batting (the inside sheet of stuffing) should also be appropriate to the season. Whether you choose to use a pattern, or make your own, the staff at the fabric shop can advise you on the right materials.
If this is your first venture into making bed quilts, go for a pattern of large squares. The larger the square, the easier it is to match seams perfectly and complete your quilt in a relatively short period of time. It’s also quicker to assemble the quilt in easily manageable strips, row by row.
If you’re feeling adventurous, you can also make your own quilt pattern, using the drawing feature of your word processor. Play around with colors, textured patterns and images. For example, let’s say you want a rose-themed quilt. Collect some images of roses to insert in a diagonal pattern of available squares, then try various colors for each square, alternating a rose color with a pink or dark green, until you’re pleased with the balance of your composition. It’s then easy enough to find a fabric in a rose motif, which you can then applique on to the squares.
When making your own patterns for bed quilts, all you need do is add a half inch to the measurement of each square on your drawing for seam allowances.
You can spend many a happy hour on this decorating project, one you can pick up for an hour or a day, as your schedule permits. In the end, you’ll have a beautiful and functional gift for someone you love.
