Ben’s patriotic birthday gift ….

What is this?

It’s my birthday – five years old today!!  And these must be my presents – let’s take a look … 

Let's take a closer look

Hmmm … very nice  –  a smart new collar, I will look even cooler on the beach this summer, but what’s it sitting on?

 This is comfy

 (yawning..) I understand now – a lovely new bed topper, so soft and comfortable…. 

Perfect!

 .. wake me up when it’s time for breakfast!!

Yes, it’s Ben’s birthday today – which is also St George’s Day (the patron saint of England).  So Ben had to have a very patriotic birthday gift, and I decided to try making a patchwork quilted bed topper for him, featuring patriotic red, white and blue, with the red cross of St George formed by the sashing.  He does of course have a “proper” dog bed, with waterproof lining and zip-up cover, but as he is a very sandy, muddy sort of dog I always keep a blanket or other “topper” over it so that I don’t have to wash the whole bed quite so often (it measures 48″ x 60″!).  And he needed a new topper badly. 

Bed topper

 So I dug around in my scraps basket.  I’ve used a lot of vintage linen mangle clothes over the years, and always keep the scraps – they’re incredibly hardwearing and a lot feature really nice striped borders.  Then there were a couple of old shirts, a tatty blanket from the charity shop (price £3) and for the backing some ticking salvaged from some old cushions.  The only new fabric was the red gingham sashing – well, he had to have a St George’s cross on his topper!  I cut twelve 12″ squares from an old sheet and created the patches using the stitch and flip technique.  Then some simple patchwork and lots of stippling (and I mean lots!).  Finally I bound the edges with some twill tape for strength. 

And there it is … a lovely new topper for Ben’s bed that’s true to the thrifty spirit of patchwork and quilting – total cost less than £6.  It’s very patriotic too – a great gift for a St George’s Day dog!!  More treats planned for later including a bus ride, he loves the bus – and my car’s going in for its service and MOT (UK readers will understand my trepidation here – fingers crossed everyone) so we’ll drive into Kingsbridge and get the bus home – following a visit to the pet shop to purchase a special dog-chew for the birthday boy.

13 Comments

Ben you are a very luck dog – I think I might come back as a dog of I thought I would get a patriotice quilt.
Have a good day Ben
Julie xxxxxxx

Reply

Happy Birthday Ben, I hope you have a fantastic day! 🙂
It’s so cute that he loves the bus, I bet he’s the centre of attention on it!
His presents are lovely, he’s a lucky dog.
Best of luck with the MOT and Happy St George’s Day!
Vivienne x

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It sounds as if he’s going to have a great birthday. Hope the MOT goes okay. Ruby is using up all of my ‘practice’ quilts, though she has to share them with the cat. I’m going to need to practice a bit more though as they’re getting a bit chewed and manly from all of the washing.

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I did of course mean manly! Though I love the thought of things getting manly from too much washing.

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For goodness sake! What is wrong with me. It’s manky, woman, manky. That predictive text will be the death of me!

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Happy birthday Ben!!! You are a very big boy. Hope you have a great year with many bones to chew and people to love.

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What a super quilt! A great item that any dog would be proud to have as a bed topper. My ‘Barney’ gets ruined too!! Glad someone else is dotty about their dog!!! CCx

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Happy Birthday Ben. You are such a lucky dog to have such a thoughtful and kind owner. Enjoy your day and all that it brings! Hugs to you. Monika

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