Purl Soho's Lap Duvet Follow-up

Since I made the first Lap Duvet using the pattern from Purl Soho, I've made 2 more.  (Thoughts about my first lap duvet in my previous post,  February 18, 2016).

The lap duvet shown on the top of the pile has a soft, light voile as the top layer, a wool batting and flannel on the back. The voile fabric is 52" inches, wider than the flannel. The wool batting left from the twin size batting I cut up for the first duvet was exactly the same width as the voile.  I decided it was worth piecing the flannel to get the extra bit of width in the duvet.  I had a flannel scrap just about the correct width which played well with the color scheme, so that was perfect.

The bottom duvet is the size the pattern specifies--42 x 60.  It has a cotton top, a polyester batting and a flannel backing. It is just as light, airy, and warm as the wool lap duvets. Good for folks who are allergic to wool!

I decided I could tie a lap duvet almost as fast as I could pin it, and certainly faster than pinning and then tacking it on the sewing machine.  So that's what I did.  I used 2 strands of #8 Perle cotton thread and placed them through all the layers with the lap duvet while it was on the floor. (7" apart for the wool batting per the Purl Soho pattern, 5" inches part per the recommendation of the manufacturer of the polyester batting). Then I picked the lap duvet up and tied all the knots while I watched TV.  I enjoyed the process and I like the look of the ties on these fabrics.

I look at the stitches on my sewing machine and tried thinking outside the box about how else I might tack one of these lap duvets.  The eyelet buttonhole on my machine looked like a possibility. The booklet for my Janome 3160QDC states that the machine will make the circle of stitches, overlap the first several stitches to lock them and then automatically stop and cut the thread.  That looked like a cute, fast way to do the job. 

I tried the eyelet stitch with a sample cotton/wool batting/cotton sandwich.  It works really well and looks great on front (on the left in photos below) and back (on the right)!  I'd recommend using a contrasting thread color.  I'll definitely do this when I make another lap duvet!

Purl Soho's Lap Duvet

It was cold and rainy last week when a newsletter from Purl Soho dropped into my on-line mailbox last week.  The photo on the newsletter showed a stack of puffy Lap Duvets with fabulous linen grid fabric on one side, Lana Cotta Canberra wool fabric on the reverse.  There is layer of wool quilt batting in between the two layers.  In view of the cold wet weather outside, it was JUST what I wanted. That and a lazy afternoon with a good book or movie. 

This lap duvet is the perfect project for that fabulous large print yardage you just can't bear to cut up into quilt pieces!  My stash is a bit out of control (actually a lot out of control!!) at the moment so buying new material just didn't make sense. So upstairs I went to see what I could use.

What I found was a couple yards of the "Leaf in Green" fabric from Lizzie House's The Lovely Hunt.  I'd purchased simply because I thought it was beautiful, without any plans for its use.  I auditioned a number of fabrics for the reverse side and chose a peach abstract floral which picked up the salmon color highlight in Lizzie's fabric.

I had one twin and 2 queen wool quilt batts in my closet.  With a bit of math, I figured out that the twin size batting would make 2 lap duvets with only a bit left to trim off one end.

I followed the instructions in the tutorial and used a zig-zag to tack the layers together.  It just seemed plain when I finished it.  It's supposed to be spare and modern, but I just wanted something more.  So I added some Big Stitch Quilting 1 3/4 inches in from the the outside edges of the lap duvet. I used a matching green, size 5, DMC brand perle cotton thread. Its sheen adds a subtle highlight to the duvet while maintaining its modern look.

It's a light lofty item and will be a cheerful addition to the couch through the Spring.  For a true winter lap duvet, I think using a good quality quilter's flannel on one side and a soft quilter's cotton on the other would be perfect.