The Princess and The Pea

Fairy Tale Dream 

Since my earliest crafting days, before I even got in to quilting, I had the idea to make something depicting 'The Princess and The Pea'. 

It is one of my most loved tales from the Ladybird books I had as a child. Even Elise used to like it when I read it with her, and I still have it. 

I had seen a lovely Tilda designed wall hanging  on Pinterest a while ago. So when the book came up for sale on Facebook, I snapped it up! I worked on the doll first, having sourced the genuine Tilda fabric (which was very expensive and a little darker than I thought it would be).

 I had learned from the Tilda rabbit project we did at Studio Quilters the other month, that turning the very slim limbs was really tricky. So I was determined to get it right.

I made a few adaptations to the instructions in the book. For one thing the pattern for the nightdress was meant for the larger doll, so I had to scale it down. The crown just didn't work - so I thought of an easier way to do it. And I wanted her to have real hair (not painted on), so I unravelled a piece of braid, brushed it and gave her a little blonde coiffure! I love her stockings with frilly garters!

Then I made the quilt itself using some of my favourite fabrics for the mattresses. I even took the cellophane off this genuine Tilda ribbon to go under the bed - I have been hoarding that for a good ten years! A rummage in my trinket box produced the perfect green pearly bead from an old earring, which was just right for the pea, as well as a little china chamber pot. The canopy over the bed was my own addition too. 





The instructions said to make the quilt first (using the bagging technique) and then to stitch the pieces on afterwards. I chose to put all the pieces on the top, then sandwich it and bind it in the traditional way with more of my pretty 3 Sisters fabric. I did the simplest of hand quilting to finish the folksy look. 
Finally I hung it on this extra special wire hanger which was a treasured gift from Elise.

Happy Quilting Everyone!

Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving your comments. Please share on Facebook, Pinterest  etc.

www.englishquilter.co.uk