We alluded to this project a bit ago, and now we can show some progress!  This is the Wild Garden quilt. Well, quilt top. It still needs to be quilted, which I have been having internal debates about how to do.  But the bamboo batting is ready and waiting, and then it will be time for a pattern release!  Yup, Wild Garden will be available from our own Golly Patterns in August.

The idea is simply to frame a panel with border-after-border, which we love for showcasing fabric that we don’t to detract from with over-designed piecing. You may recognize the Loulouthi fabrics, obviously that collection. More photos and info on the pattern to come, if I can just make up my mind about the quilting…

Greetings from Korea! I am in the Land of the Morning Calm, which happens to be the place where the good majority of the fabric that we carry is made. Just a quick check-in to say hi and share a few photos. The colors and patterns everywhere here are inspiring.

Yesterday in Gimhae we went to Eunhasa, an ancient Buddhist temple that burned in the 1500s and was rebuilt in the 1600s. This is the underside of one of the “beef tongue” roofs.

Lanterns and ceiling of the temple:

many orange Buddhas:

And today we visited the Gukje Market in Busan. The first thing we saw there was wallpaper. The Koreans take their wallpaper very seriously. Every surface of the tiny apartment we are staying in is covered in it.

And of course, fabric. From Hello Kitty to home dec. All of it enticing. It draws me in like something stronger than a strong magnet.

Headed to Seoul tomorrow, where I’ve been promised the most massive fabric warehouse ever is waiting for me.

Of the few things I take very seriously, my sleep is one of them. My bed has such a heavenly mattress that I love it a little more than a person should love a thing.  And of course, my comfy bed has got to be pretty too. (I totally believe that the aesthetics of our environments affect our mood.)  So the transitioning of the winter comforter to the summer comforter was the perfect time for a bed makeover.

For me the simple, right-sides-together duvet cover has become the go-to when I want something for my own bed but there’s not enough time (or I’m too impatient) to make a new quilt. When you have a large print to show off it’s especially perfect. I had been dying to get my hands on the the huge-scale prints in the Loulouthi collection in particular. The tricky thing is, a queen duvet cover requires 2 widths of fabric, and with prints this big they had to be matched. It turned out much better than I anticipated, only needed about a foot of extra fabric and I just pinned before sewing. Barely noticeable!

And since I like to change things up a lot, the back has a contrasting print so I can flip it if I’m in a more purpley mood.

The fabric particulars:

• duvet front fabric: Summer Totem in Grapefruit
• duvet back fabric: Framed in Shadow
  • 4 3/4 yards for each side of a full/queen duvet
• pillowcases: Stockings in Twist
  • 1 yard per pillowcase

My duvet cover sewing tips:

• Don’t bother squaring up until after you’ve sewn the two sides together. When I square up first, by the time I’m done sewing the sides and top together, the bottom don’t match up anyway so I have to square up again before hemming.
• As in making pillow shams, if you make your duvet cover slightly smaller than the duvet, the corners will stay put and be nice and full.  My duvet is 82″ square, and I usually make my duvet covers about 81″ square.
• Closing the bottom a foot or two in from the sides helps keep everything in place too, plus there are less ties to tie and there is still plenty of room to fit it over the duvet. I usually do this by hemming the bottom, then sewing it closed near the sides with the same seams that I sew my ties on with.
• If you’re lazy like me, use narrow twill tape instead of making ties.  I prefer ties just because once I had duvet cover buttons that would not stay done up.  For this project, it looked better than the grosgrain and satin ribbons I had on hand and saved lotsa time.

If you’ve got duvet cover sewing tips too, please add them in the comments!

Wow. Just wow. You guys are amazing. I promise we didn’t ask for those comments just to make us feel good (although it does). But that was more helpful than I had hoped!  I will be able to tell you more about what it’s for later. It is so great to hear in our customers own words why they like to visit Suppose. I think more than one of you deserve a FQ bundle.

Mitch may have visited from farthest, but I know her well enough to believe her when she says to give the bundle to someone else. I will just have to sew something for you myself. And deliver it to Wales in person. So although I wish everyone could get one, our winners are Jill, Brandi, & Lindsey #1, all for either traveling from very far or having very compelling and helpful answers. I’m contacting you guys with details on how to get a Prince Charming colorway bundle to you. Jill, you get extra gold stars and hearts for basically doing all my work for me, and for typing it all on a cell phone! And thank you to each of you all, I hope you know how much we appreciate you now and always, and hope to meet those of you who haven’t yet visited!