7 Beautiful Spring Quilts For Warmer Temps (but Still Cozy Nights)

As we say goodbye to winter and welcome the new season with al fresco cocktails, spring cleaning, woolens storage, and a new eye towards our sandals, don’t leave your bedroom out. Usually around the same time that I put my sweaters in their zip-up bags that slide under my bed for the summer, I wash and store my heavy winter bedding, and break out something fresh.

Especially because I – like my German ancestors – believe it’s healthier to sleep in a cool room, and because it saves energy (meaning fossil fuels, carbon emissions, and money!), my bedroom is about 58-60 degrees all winter, which is perfect for sleeping – as long as you have plenty of good blankets and the right layering system (mine is flannel sheets, wool blanket, duvet with cover, and a thinner wool blanket on top and snuggled around my head and neck).

So as soon as it warms up, I strip the bed down, put the flannel sheets away and replace them with crisp cotton, then layer a simple cotton-batting filled quilt on top.I keep an extra blanket at the foot of my bed for cooler spring evenings. It’s a veritable bed makeover! It not only welcomes the season, it looks lighter and brighter too.

I love quilts, and learned to make fairly simple ones with my grandmother; they are some of my favorite pieces now. If you are feeling like it’s time for a spring bed change-up, check out these lovely handmade, organic, vintage and otherwise sustainable blankets and quilts. Sweet dreams!

How bohemian-romantic is this handmade cotton blanket colored with natural plant dyes? Available on Etsy from Rose James for $108.

This modern style handmade quilt features, “…Joel Dewberry fabric circles appliquéd onto a cream background which is quilted with a meandering pattern.” Via Issabella the Cat on Etsy for $88.00.

What about a totally pristine vintage quilt from the 1960’s that’s still as bright as the day it was put on the shelf? What a gorgeous, one-of-a-kind (and very large – it’s King sized) find! Available from Bahar on Etsy for $249.99.

ABC Carpet & Home has a number of super pretty handmade quilts (my favorite are the woodblock printed ones) for sale. The image above combines several layers of quilt, which just seems insanely decadent and cozy. Monaco wood block print quilt at ABC for $430.


Berber wedding quilts have been featured recently in several design mags and decorating books, and the reason why might be obvious; beautiful minimal designs, with a bit of shimmer via hand-sewn sequins. Called handira, these quilts are made for a bride before her wedding, to bring her luck. “For Berbers, objects and visual motifs contain myriad meanings and purposes. The process of hand-weaving, itself, when undertaken mindfully, is thought to endow the textile with baraka, or blessings.” Quilt via Boucherouite on Etsy for $330.00.

Vintage, handmade quilts like this one from Indiana (probably originally from Pennsylvania), can be hard to find at lower prices (that’s because they take many hours of handwork!). This gorgeous, graphic one has a few worn spots, and is a bit less expensive – nothing a few pillows can’t disguise! Available from Cindy’s Antique Quilts for $295.

For another version of the modern quilt, Pottery Barn carries a number of organic cotton coverlets (both the exterior fabric and cotton batting is organic, and the dyes are natural), including this handmade beauty; matching shams are available. At Pottery Barn for $199-$299, depending on size.

A lovely video about the American tradition of quilting by Pottery Barn.

Main image via Flickr User Reid Kasprowicz