Bedspread for the Alfa

After having good results making the reading pillow and the chair vibrator pad cover out of fleece, I decided to look into making a duvet cover or quilt for the bed in the Alfa. Over the years I seem to have collected a half dozen comforters, and I thought a removable duvet cover would be better than a new quilt.

I was intrigued by the wide variety of fleece fabrics I have seen. However even though there are many available at the several large fabric stores in town, none were quite what I wanted.

I decided to look online and found the Hancock Fabric Site was having a huge sale.  I had paid $12.99 for the one yard of fleece I used for the pillow and seat cover. Hancock has over 900 prints! One of them was the same as the one I had bought locally, so I knew what the quality was. Many of the prints were on a closeout sale for $3.99 per yard.   

Knowing a good deal when I saw it, I looked at all 900+ designs and picked two. I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to make or how. To be on the safe side I ordered six yards of each. One is a Native American design, and the other is a rustic cabin print.  They don't really go together, but that's OK because you don't see them both at the same time.

I've been itching to get started on it, but with railings to sand, animal heads to make, and Thanksgiving to enjoy, I had to leave the fabric alone for a while.

Which was probably a good thing, because by the time I was able to get to work I had nixed the duvet cover as too much trouble to take on and off the comforter, and a quilt as possibly being too warm for summer nights.

Instead I decided on making a reversible fleece  bedspread that could be used as a lighter blanket in warmer weather.

First I cut each six yard piece in half.  I used one 60' x 108' piece as a center panel and cut two 22' x 108' side panels from the second half.  I did this with each of the designs creating identical front and back pieces.

Sewing the individual sides was not too hard.  I had moved my sewing machine to the dining room table because I knew I couldn't manage this work on the small sewing cabinet I normally use.

Getting old is a bummer.  I never had so much trouble getting a bobbin started or threading the machine needle as I do now.

By the time the two sides were put together, handling the twelve yards of fabric was a challenge.

I did six lines of stitching from top to bottom, and a line all around the edge to stabilize the two layers. For each line I had to roll and bundle the spread so I could sew the line.

I made it spread size so that I could bring it up over the pillows when the bed is made.  I find the regular Queen size comforters are a bit short for that.

I also made it to drape over the sides and end of the bed.  

This is the more rustic side.  

One spread, two decors. Which do you like better?  Which seasons do you think each matches up with?

Rainy Day Pursuits

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were spent sanding and staining deck railings.  We have finished slightly more than one-fifth of them. 

Rain was predicted for the first half of the week, so we planned on a few days off.  

We woke Monday to a wet world and enjoyed a relaxed morning. 

Then we went to a matinee showing of the movie ARGO.  It was as good as the reviews said it was. It is definitely worth seeing, or if you are not a movie theater person, putting on your future DVD list.

Although it didn't rain on Tuesday, it was a bit too cold and damp to return to the sanding project.  Instead we did a few things around the Alfa including running the generator and the engine.  Craig also installed some hooks and eyes in  the table and the wall to help keep the table from tipping over when we are driving.

Pendleton Blanket on the Alfa couch

I have been looking for some fleece fabric with an Indian print ever since we bought the Pendleton blanket at Crater Lake.

They say when you are decorating a room you should start with an "inspiration" piece. This is mine. Anything I bring in will either echo the colors, the pattern, or the spirit of the blanket. 

Last week I finally found the type of fleece I was looking for. The colors are a little different, but it reflects the spirit of the blanket.

Several years ago, when I was having back pain, Craig bought me a vibrating, heating, chair-pad.  I have used it often and it was kept on a chair in our family room.  It is black, which was fine for a room with two black leather couches and two black leather recliners, but not compatible with the Alfa decor. 

Sunday, while Craig worked on his part of the sanding, I made a cover for the chair pad using the new fleece fabric.

I have also been looking for a new back support pillow to use in the Alfa when I want to read or watch the TV. For years, I have used the type of pillow that has arm rests, but feel that since the bed in the Alfa is only a queen size, the arm-rests would take up an unnecessary amount of space.  So I wanted a different kind of reading pillow.

Of course, I couldn't find exactly what I wanted.  So I had to create it. 

I bought a foam rubber "bed wedge" pillow at Bed Bath and Beyond. I cut it in half, and combined the two halves to make a fatter wedge. I added a rolled piece of "egg crate type" foam mattress pad, along the top edge. And then I covered it with my new fleece fabric. 

I wish the background color of the fleece had been a dark brown instead of black, but you can't have everything!

I have also replaced the original light colored throw rugs I bought last fall with some dark brown ones.  The light ones just got too dirty too fast, and really shed a lot of lint in the dryer each time they were washed.

The rain forecasted for tomorrow has been cancelled. So it will be back to work on the railings once again. 

I'd rather be making things for the Alfa!