From Fleece to Chenille

In the winter, we like our bedroom to look kind of lodge-y: buffalo check sheets in reds and blues, fleece blankets, and plaid pillow covers:

But buffalo plaid and fleece don't work so well in the spring and summer, so I like to switch things up in late April or early May (poor Doug--just when he learns how to make the bed "right," I change everything).

We have a "body" pillow that runs along our entire headboard (you can't see it in my before picture, but it was covered in red and green plaid flannel for the lodge look).

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a chenille crib quilt to make a new cover for the big pillow:

My cousin Lou (the same one who figured out  that my little porcelain-topped table was a medical cart), suggested making a throw pillow if I had any fabric left over. I didn't have any left from this project, but on Thursday night, Doug and I went to a flea market at our local senior center, and I snapped up a soft, faded blue chenille bedspread. It was priced at $5, but the woman let me have it for $2 because it had a small tear in it.

I didn't know what I was going to do with it when I bought it, but I figured I didn't have much to lose at that price.

When I got it home, I washed and dried it and then repaired the little tear with an iron-on patch. I decided to use it as a folded throw at the end of the bed, but chenille spreads are so floppy, I knew it would be a big pain to fold it every day (let's not even talk about getting my sweet husband to do that).  Plus, they're not really symmetrical--the bottom end is usually rounded to hang better when it's on the bed.

So I cut off the rounded end to square the bedspread off. I ended up with a rectangle that had two long fringed edges and two shorter plain edges. Then I folded it in half, right sides together, and stitched the plain ends together. I flipped it right side out, folded it in half again in the same direction, and then top-stitched it together. Now it's four layers thick, just the right configuration for an end-of-bed decorative throw, and it doesn't come apart.

I threw away the end that I had cut off, but I retrieved it from the trash the next day when my creative cousin suggested making a throw pillow.  I quickly stitched up a cover for a small pillow that I already had. I did a quick and dirty job--no zipper, just whip stitched on the open end--but I can  undo the stitching in seconds if I want to change it out. Here is the finished look for the warm weather:

I also changed out some accessories to match the summer color scheme, including bringing in the little yellow and black picnic tin on the dresser.

Doug will have to get his semi-annual bed-making tutorial when he gets home later today.