Rene's 49'er duvet
Date made: December 2001
Some time previous to the making of this duvet (perhaps as long as 6 months .. I don't quite remember), I bought some San Francisco 49er fabric for my youngest daugher, Rene, who is a fan of them. She already had a well-worn, store-bought comforter that she liked sleeping under and agreed that instead of an honest-to-goodness quilt from the 49er fabric, a duvet cover would be a good idea. She would get the best of both worlds: to keep the existing, cozy comforter yet get a new 'quilt' with the 49er fabric.
The 49'er fabric was available as a panel strip and as two coordinating prints: I bought one 3-panel strip, each panel being about 18" square. This fabric also contained a text strip, "San Francisco 49ers", which I incorporated into the cover. The other 49er fabrics were their logo, one in a white background and the other a "reverse": a deep red background. I rounded out the fabric selection with solids in yellow/gold, deep red and a mottled rust. Since I didn't know how long the 49er fabric would be available in the store, I bought a "goodly" amount, without any specific layout in mind. I sure didn't want to run out of it (having been burned in such a manner before)! :-)
Rene and I sat down and came up with a layout that we thought would best utilize the panels, the text strips and the coordinating fabrics. It's not terribly imaginative or creative, but neither of us are talented in the original art department. However, Rene was happy and that was what mattered. I'm still not really satisfied with the football outlines; I think they need the white stitching lines that real footballs have. I may still hand-applique those details on at a later date ... that will be another project. :-)
I wanted the inside of the duvet to be "clean", i.e. no threads hanging about or exposed seams. After making a row, I sewed each one onto a lightweight foundation fabric with a sew-n-flip technique. I didn't use any filler at all: no batting, no flannel, no nothing, as the existing comforter was going to provide that function. The backing was the logo fabric with the deep red background. To secure the comforter inside the cover, I sewed velcro tabs to the comforter and the cover, which enables me to remove the cover for washing yet keeps the comforter nicely inside the cover. I finished the bottom with red-colored snaps.