Black Friday Sale for the Premier Inn Groupies

I know the OP is being cautious about posting links to commercial stuff, but here you go - Premier Inn At Home!
https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/sleep/buy-our-bed.html

Kinda fun. I wonder what the shipping cost to the US is like?

Gerry, I got the same email and checked. Short answer---they don't ship to the US. But shipping is free in the UK! 😊

Oh that's a shame they don't ship. The 4.5tog duvet might be nice for summer. Is it true that duvets aren't commonly used in the US? You guys prefer blankets?

In that case I should arguably delete the thread, if it's of no use to it's target audience (which is not UK citizens!!). I am aware of @horsewoofies thread on doing that, so will sleep on it.

I have actually looked at their prices before though, and they are not exorbitant.

Is it true that duvets aren't commonly used in the US? You guys prefer blankets?

Actually duvets have become more and more popular in the US over the last 20+ years, Gerry. I sleep with a duvet and a lot of my friends do as well. It's sort of like roundabouts. You guys did it first and now we're following in your footsteps. :)

Interesting! It was more like 40 years ago that duvets gained popularity in the UK. I remember them being called a "continental quilt" when I was young. I'd still refer to a duvet as a quilt if I were talking to a Scottish person.

When I moved to England in the 90s, my new landlord (furnished apartment) asked me if I had brought my own duvet.

I had to ask her what a duvet was! 🤣

OK- the thread has changed direction (in a positive way), so I can leave it up.

I'd still refer to a duvet as a quilt if I were talking to a Scottish person., why do you do that, we Scots have always called them duvets.
As to the mattresses, I am needing a new one for my bed so will seriously look at getting one, used Premier inns many times and have always enjoyed the comfort of them. Prices do seem very reasonable

why do you do that, we Scots have always called them duvets.

"We Scots" includes myself, although my location is London :-)

The "quilt" thing stems from it being called a "continental quilt" i.e., a quilt from the continent, as I believe they were popular in Scandinavia and Germany long before the UK.

It's maybe more of a generational thing than a Scottish thing. I had a conversation with my mother recently about the new bedding I just bought and I referred to my duvet as a quilt throughout :-)

First saw and used duvets decades ago visiting relatives in Austria. I don't remember when we changed over from blankets, and i'm not sure which my less traveled relatives use. Hmm, a topic of conversation.

I still remember the first hotel I stayed at in London on my first trip overseas, and I saw the duvet on my single bed. I just loved it!

I do know when IKEA started expanding their stores in the mid to late 1990's, more people found out about and became enamored of duvets and started buying them.

It’s interchangeable for me and the people I know here in Yorkshire but I think I use quilt more than duvet so maybe another north/south divide?

That's interesting! In the US, a quilt is generally considered to be 2 layers of fabric with batting in the middle that is hand or machine-quilted and then bound on the outside.

I like to make quilts (mostly patchwork) but would never think of a duvet as a quilt. I know people make quilts in the UK like the one I described here as I've been in some fabric shops in England and Scotland (and have seen a lot online).

So what are these types of quilts called in the north?

A quilt that you make by quilting, as you describe, would also be called a quilt :-)

I googled continental quilt and it threw up this link -

https://www.penroseproducts.com/history-of-the-duvet

back to the topic at hand - just calculated that the Premier sale for a UK King bed + mattress with 2 drawers in the ottoman (with no headboard because I have one) comes to within about £50 of the price I will pay Ikea for their top rated similar, which Which? gave a Best Buy and top rating. I'm sticking with the Ikea one I think, and will get it when the sale price comes back and my ribs heal which is what stopped me buying it in August - gosh ribs take a long time. Love building Ikea but the ribs don't want to deal with humping heavy stuff yet/

a quilt is generally considered to be 2 layers of fabric with batting in the middle that is hand or machine-quilted and then bound on the outside.

I like to make quilts (mostly patchwork) but would never think of a duvet as a quilt. I know people make quilts in the UK like the one I described here as I've been in some fabric shops in England and Scotland (and have seen a lot online).

Mardee, if you want quilts you want to visit Wales. They are hand made to particular regional specifications with lots of stitched decorations. All sorts of places will have them including antique and collectable shops and fairs.

Mardee, I am making one of those and I call it a patchwork quilt. I’ve been making it since lockdown as it’s entirely hand sewn and I don’t really know what I’m doing.

I’m of the generation that called my duvet a “continental quilt.”

Oh you guys are making me think of my Scandinavian grandmother with all the talk of quilts! She used only extra scraps of fabrics she accumulated. Little 4 x 4 squares. Did the whole thing by hand. As a young child, I never gave how much work and time went into them. I treated them like a regular old blanket, drying off a wet dog, using them to build den forts with friends. She’d send us one from Minnesota every Christmas. I’d give anything if I had preserved one properly and still had it to display. They were so simple, not complex at all, but so beautiful.

Nigel, I did not know that. That’s really interesting and definitely something I will keep in line when I’m planning a trip in the future. I was in Wales for about three nights back in 1996 but I’ve always wanted to go back. Maybe this will be good motivation to plan that. Thank you!

Golden Girl, I would love to see your quilt! I’ve always wanted to do some hand-quilting. The quilts I make are all machine quilted, but maybe with my next one I might try hand quilting. I do like hand sewing, and it can be very satisfying. By the way, you probably know this, but if you ever get stuck on some procedure, there are about a bazillion quilting websites and YouTube videos out there.

Mustlovedogs, those quilts must’ve been so precious and wonderful. I had a lot of things like that that disappeared over the years and I really regret not taking better care of them when I was younger. But I do have a quilt that my great aunt made when she was young. Probably around 1910. That was given to me by another aunt when I was older, and that one I take very good care of. 😊

Mardee, another trip to Wales is always a good idea! :)

isn31c, thanks for this thread! I am enjoying reading it.
I have loved the comfy mattresses at the Premier Inns!

Golden Girl, I would love to see your quilt! I’ve always wanted to do some hand-quilting.

To be honest, I haven’t even begun the quilting process - I spent three years doing English paper-piecing with small hexagons to make a huge king-sized bed cover and now I’m thinking I probably should have made it (and quilted it) in strips because it’s going to be a nightmare to deal with the actual quilting.

Blame Covid. I started in March 2020 thinking it might be a cushion cover or two, and loved the hand-stitching of the hexagons so much that it grew and grew.

Golden Girl, I have never tried paper-piecing hexagons, but know many people who have and love it. I don't know I would have the patience for it, but the results are always gorgeous. It's my understanding that paper-piecing came from England (at least, all the books call it English paper-piecing). Is that correct?

It's my understanding that paper-piecing came from England (at least, all the books call it English paper-piecing). Is that correct?

I don’t know. It’s just always been what I think of as quilting. It was so therapeutic tacking the fabric round the paper then sewing the hexagons together. (I had to persuade my optician that I really did want the strongest possible bit in the bottom of one of my pairs of varifocals, so I could sew and watch TV). Those long evenings in during lockdown as my partner and I watched box sets…

I made loads of sets of seven hexagons sewn together then put them altogether to form a quilt. No colour design at all, other than that each set of seven is made from matching/toning fabric.

Premier Inn have now added rooms for £39 and less on Friday and Sunday nights for stays at selected locations before 31 March 2024 to the Black Friday sale- also Friday nights at £89 in Central London on a Friday, and £79 on a Sunday night- to book by 2359 GMT on 27 November.
Random searches find under £39 and under rooms for those days even in Edinburgh and the outer London Zones.

A bit closer to home for Mardee, St Mark's Cathedral in Seattle have a Quilt Ministry and a Ministry of Worsted Wool. Next Sunday, Advent Sunday, they are having an Alternative Gift Market after each of the morning services which will include products from each of these groups.

Stuart, those sound like nice events! I've been working on a patchwork lap quilt to take to my brother in Florida when I visit him and his wife in January. Nothing as beautiful as Golden Girl's quilt, though!