The Duvet Project by giddy99

Goodness me! Today we're featuring an awesomely cool (and pretty crazy!) project from Lauren, aka giddy99. She is embroidering a duvet cover. And not just a single duvet cover either - it's a queen-size one! Imagine that, that's huge, and rather cumbersome to work on, so this is a pretty brave project in my book!

She is using an amazing range of different patterns, new and old. You should check out her Duvet Project Flickr set where she's documenting the progress of the project - there are notes about each pattern used as well. And if you click on the images in this post, you'll be transported over to Flickr where you can read more about them.

We can't wait to see the finished project! If you're doing a large scale embroidery project too, do let us know about it! You can email me, Carina (carinascraftblog[AT]gmail[DOT]com) or Nicole (followthewhitebunny[AT]e-tropolis[DOT]nl) to tell us all about it.

And speaking of Nicole; we had to know more about this Duvet Project, so Nicole has done a wee interview with Lauren - read on!

How long have you been embroidering?
I began embroidering in January of 2005. I'd tried cross-stitching in high school, but I couldn't get it to hold my attention. I've tried various hobbies, but none have held my attention for long… Embroidery was love at first sight for me, and I love it still.

Who taught you to embroider?
Someone tried to teach me as a child, but I vaguely remember that it didn't stick, for some reason. I really learned from the instructions in Sublime Stitching. I still have my first receipt from there, date January 16, 2005, too! I worked SO hard to get my split stitches to look like the ones in the diagram, but somehow deviated to the chain stitch, which I pull tight to make it LOOK like a split stitch (I realize that's ridiculous, but it's my fave stitch, STILL).

Where and when do you embroider?
I embroider whenever I get the chance, which is either just before bed (when I'm at home). I travel for work, and will take the pillow shams or other small projects with me to embroider while on planes, in airports or in hotels.

Who is your embroidery hero? 
I owe my love for embroidery to Sublime Stitching, so I have to say Jenny Hart. She made hand embroidery look fun and interesting with designs I could use with my existing décor.

What made you start a huge project like your Duvet cover project?
 I spent five years embroidering the edges of LOTS of pillowcases and a couple of tea towels, and want to branch out. I love embroidery (it grounds me), but I needed something different. I liked the idea of an embroidered quilt, but I didn't want to piece or sew anything – I just wanted to do the embroidery, right? It then occurred to me… a duvet is just a giant "pillowcase" (of sorts). A GIANT blank space, that I could fill however I pleased!

What is your favourite bit of the whole project so far?
Oh, my… it would be difficult to pick one favorite design; I like most of them all so much!

What is your least favourite bit?
 I've a couple of pieces that I'm not sure what to do about. One of them is the very first image I embroidered on the quilt. I was a bit nervous about mucking up a perfectly good duvet, and timidly embroidered a rather small image in one corner. It's very plain, outline stitches only (i.e. no fill), and SMALL. It now pales against the bigger pieces I've since done (the images I pick keep getting bigger and more elaborate). My husband says I can't remove and replace it, though, because the Starting Point is important in the whole, big picture. (… but, is it really?)

What is on your ‘wish list’ to embroider for this project? 
 I would have to embroider three duvets to get everything I want on there – I may have to use the reverse side of this one (wouldn't THAT be something)? I've SO many patterns "queued up," but I'm easily distracted by a contest, a swap, a fundraiser, a "gift" pattern… but I plod along, and return to the file drawer

Will you be using your Duvet cover? 
Yes, but it will be on the guest bed, where my two cats won't be able to shred my labor of love. The smallest cat, Bella, has some freakish issue with things that sparkle… she attacks the Bigfoot embroidery (it has some beadwork) whenever she gets the chance (eeek)!

Anything else you want to share?
I love how this project has stretched my embroidery as a hobby. I've gotten past the dread of a "big" or "too detailed" image, and now seek out the bigger projects – I look forward to the challenge.