From a Queen to a King

After 18 years of marriage I needed my space. It was time to go from a queen bed to a king bad. The decision has been heavenly—I sleep so much better now. 

There were two sad moments during the transition though.

First, losing my beloved DIY turquoise headboard to my teenage son. I made that lovely thing—read about it here.

The second sad moment was realizing the cost of a new mattress, box spring, mattress cover, headboard, all new quilts, sheets, throw pillows, dust ruffle, etc. Luckily my mad sewing & embroidery skills helped me from going completely bankrupt. Good sales helped the rest of the way.

The headboard was a steal of a deal at 50% off from Restoration Hardware. Slipcovered in their “sand” linen means, you guessed it, I can make a new cover for the headboard anytime I want. Then again, plain-colored linen is my favorite fabric of all time.

The very first layer, or rather, last layer I guess, are the linen pillow cases for the bed pillows. I really want a full set of white linen sheets but they are expensive, so for now, a few pair of white linen pillow cases trimmed all pretty will make me happy. This is the linen I used if interested. The plethora of cross-stitch designs on my Bernina 830 made me happy.

I loved how they peak out just a bit from the shams.

The next layer are these huge 26x26 feather down Euro shams. Again, I used “bleached” white linen (click here), but a heavier weight this time—7 ounces. I used my 10”x10” grid of my “Spirals” design to embroider a barely-there design of gray spirals on the fabric. Love the results!

The last layer are the fun throw pillows—two 20”x20” pillows and one super long rectangle. I am obsessed with indigo prints right now hence this navy print on the lumbar pillow. Just $6 for the one yard needed. Someday I’ll buy some real block prints by Jon Robshaw ($100/yd) but for now this blue print will do. 

The back is indigo pinstriped linen that I layered with cotton batting and quilted. Two looks depending on my mood.

The pleated linen pillow below (and the embroidered one following)  is just this plain linen, pre-washed for a wrinkly soft look, pleated tons with some crochet trim and grosgrain ribbon trim. 

I used one of the raw edges of linen and some indigo linen scraps for the back. Waste not, want not!

This last embroidered pillow is by far my favorite of the bunch. It features my Cross Stitched Zig Zag design. Because the pillow is large at 20”x20” and my largest hoop is only 15” long, I had to hoop the fabric twice to complete the motif. That’s why you see the dark blue thread over lapped a little bit. (Click on picture to zoom in.)  I kind of like the irregular effect though. Finish it off with mother of pearl buttons and I’m in love.

Same heavyweight linen (washed first) was used for the dust ruffle. Use my tutorial to make the fastest ever dust ruffle.  (I used twist pins for slipcovers to hold it in place, not staples as seen in the tutorial.) I added some navy blue satin trim. I made all that dang ribbon. Why didn’t I just buy the ribbon? Live and learn. I was trying to save a buck. But it took me a couple hours to cut all the fabric and iron into 2” strips ribbon. Sometimes I am a moron.

Lastly, this has nothing to do with sewing, but I bought this cute silver mirror at Lowes yesterday to hang behind my nightstand. I’ve had it pinned on Pinterest (see here and here) for a while and I finally got around to doing it. The lamp is from T.J. Maxx for $20.

I gave the other side a makeover too. Paul loves art etchings so I took several from around our house and hung them on his side. (He needs a new modern lamp as well.)

Super happy with my new king bed!