Ella’s Quilt Set

Why hello there!

I am super tempted to ignore the fact it is November over here – can anyone tell me when that happened? I am confident it was only March yesterday. We are staring down the barrel of Christmas and piccolo studio is on full swing preparing orders that will be wrapped and under the tree Christmas morning. And lets not forget about the stockings. So many stockings. In other news I turn 40 in only 10 short days – gulp! In our house we dont prepare for Christmas at all until my birthday has passed which is great because it gives the kids way less build up and stops it dragging on forever. We hit pretty hard though pretty much the day after with trees, Christmas Carols and ridiculous amounts of candy canes.
Anyhoo enough Christmas banter – today’s post is all about Ella and her gorgeous quilt set.

Sweet Ella has been a customer of mine since she wasonly a tiny dot. I have been lucky to make 3 quilts for her now and also create for her sister Scarlett. I first met Ella as a toddler and her mum Emily and I bonded over long hospital visits and the day to day life of having a chronically ill child. Ella has multiple medical conditions and faces some quite extreme daily hurdles. Her life for as long as we have known her has revolved around hospitals and stress.  But every battle is faced with both hope and courage and Ella’s remarkable determination puts most of us to shame.

Recently Ella turned the big 10 and a new quilt was on order. She has recently been moved into a hospital bed at home to make caring for her easier overnight and her current one was just not quite big enough. Ella has a mad obsession with the movie Moana yet Emily wanted to avoid the direct licensing trap if possible, something I strongly agree with myself. In the end she found a Lewis and Irene range called Island Girl that fit the bill perfectly and with a mix of gorgeous coordinates we created the perfect mix of age appropriate and fun. As you can see in the photo it is such a fun and bright print – the only downside was finding a store that stocked it. Eventually we tracked it down in the UK and had it on the way.

Ella’s last two quilts have been comforter style. These work perfectly for her family. Technically not perfect but insanely practical especially for restless sleepers. I sew a big doona insert inside the quilt instead of standard wadding. The end result is a fluffy love cloud you could wrap yourself up in easily and just drown out the world. In the beginning when it is first sewn everything is a bit tight but it softens over time to sit perfectly. And the upside is it is machine washable so the worry isn’t there. Comforter quilts don’t last forever – the inserts do flatten over time so they are not an heirloom piece but lets be honest for kids it is more important to think of daily use some times.

Lok how bright and fun it looks in Hannah’s room. It was such a pleasure to make a quilt that had a true personality of its own even if there were times I was literally wrestling it into submission.

Now confession time (insert eye roll emoji here). When I photographed the set I didnt realise Hannah had been playing with my camera settings the day before. So everything was taken in sports mode. The end result? Not a lot of photos sadly as most were blurry. This my friends is the reality of running a business from home around children lol. Still I think the photos I did get show the set well. Especially this pic which shows just how soft and puffy it really is.

For accessories Emily chose a coordinating pillow case, quilted European cushion cover and matching apple pie cushion. Ella takes her large Euro pillow everywhere as this is what she sleeps on. I love the versatility of them – and of course as I keep saying, practicality. I quilt mine to make sure they stay strong and up to daily use and washing with kids. We chose a coordinating print for Ella’s and kept it nice and simple for her.

So there it is – another quilt set completed and in its new home this year. Thank you so much Emily for choosing me to create yet another piece for your girls.

x Sarah