Nature-inspired quilt for a custom sized van bed

Quilts are both art and functional home goods. There is something magical about them that not only connects us to our homes, but also connects us to culture. They tell a story. And the story behind this recent commissioned creation is one of ADVENTURE.

This quilt is custom designed to fit perfectly in a bed inside a custom fitted Sprinter van that is hitting the open road, making anywhere in the continental United States its home.

Inspiration words for this order included: mountains, wildflowers, the changing seasons, happy place. Have you ever heard a dreamier found poem?

Fabric choices: spring, summer, autumn and winter Palette

The colors that occur in nature absolutely astonish me. Bold red, rich fuchsia, lush green, golden yellow, and serene blue. Even narrowing down the palette to color groups that best represent the four seasons was a challenge.

But through the tricky process of choosing colors through a computer screen, we settled on the vibrant red and plum of autumn, the black of the night sky, the tranquil blues of the winter sky, and the dappled creams and whites of spring flowers (the Edelweiss was a particular inspiration). Just a little ray of sunny yellows also made the final palette.

You know I love my bright Ruby Star Society fabrics, and there are a few of those mixed in this quilt, but I found that Art Gallery Fabrics had the best mix of nature inspired prints and seasonal tonal colors to evoke the feeling of both home and adventure.

Quilt mockups

After the customer finalizes their fabric palette, the vision gets further refined. Even though they had already decided on the quilt pattern they wanted (offset circles like the Sketchbook Vignettes quilt in my ready-to-ship shop), the process requires a lot of careful thought.

The beauty of a handmade patchwork quilt is in its uniqueness, its originality, its individual and personal story. So we went through several fairly similar iterations of the Circles or Vignettes design, each with different fabric placement and color frequency to hit just the right note.

Process: bringing the patchwork to life

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One great benefit of ordering a totally bespoke quilt is that I can make it the right size to fit perfectly a custom van bed, which uses a regular mattress with normal dimensions, but is tucked in the van in such a way that a regular sized quilt would be awkward. Regular quilt sizes leave a lot of overhang, which is lovely when it hangs over the side of a regular bed, but in a van, it would just get bunched up against a wall.

The Finishing Quilt Touches that make it unique

A gorgeous cream and caramel climbing floral print cotton-sateen was selected for the backing, which works really well with every print and color from the front of the quilt.

This quilt was professionally long armed by my talented friend Meghan at A Piece of Quiet Quilts, so that the customer could admire the gorgeous all-over sprouting plant motif throughout her journey. We chose a warm rose-gold/champagne color for the thread which works beautifully with all of the fabric colors.

This quilt was a labor of love, made to meet the specific needs of this adventurous customer.

It was only fitting to take its photo outside in the woods. You can tell it was made and photographed in winter, with the bare trees serving as a great contrast to the vibrant colors and rich prints.