Little Kingdom – my cover samples

After making Anja‘s Little Kingdom quilt where I had used a combination of solids and subtle basics, I wanted to see what Mr. Castle and Mr. Watchtower would look like with prints.

So I went through my stash and found a remnant of this dark teal floral which I had used for this mini quilt. I only just had enough fabric left to make one castle and that included carefully positioning the pieces like a jig saw puzzle. The print is a fairly small-scale floral and even though it doesn’t feature any pinks, reds or even rose motifs, it instantly made me think of an enchanted castle. And look at that bright yellow door! Isn’t it so happy and inviting? 🙂

The last piece of the floral was small enough that I would usually have thrown it out, but it was just large enough to become a tower door, so luckily it got to live a happier destiny. I chose a coordinating green solid for the body of the tower and a some dots for the battlements.

I loved the happy duo enough that I decided to feature both gentlemen on the cover of my Little Kingdom quilt pattern. And instead of another quilt I decided to make cushion covers. I added frames and borders and quilted both with a simple 1.5″ diagonal grid.

I wanted to try out some new binding effects. So for the castle pillow I added this sweet white cotton trim which almost looks like tiny pom poms.

And for the tower cushion I sewed the binding on backwards and hand-stitched it down in the front with dark green thread. I am not always a fan of dark stitches on light fabrics but I find in this case it works. My association is an antique golden frame with lots of texture and embellishments – but that might just be me… 😉

Anyway, I love how the two turned out!

… and so did the monsters. This one tried to steal the castle pillow while I was taking pictures, but somehow this photo still makes me smile.

For the actual cover photos I had help from my friend Sue and I am so happy with how they turned out!

But my clear favourites are Mr. Castle and Mr. Watchtower in company with King Bear!

I hope you like the two quilt blocks as much as my family does!

If you want to make your own cushion covers or a quilt or even something else – I wrote a whole blog post with different project ideas featuring Mr. Castle and Mr. Watchtower. Read it here!