You’ve seen them in hotels. That little strip of cloth across the foot of the hotel bed. The ones I’ve seen in Indonesia were gorgeous — beautiful handwoven pieces that were woven for that purpose. The ones in the US? Not so much. They are woven on giant commercial looms and cut up and sized for the hotel bed.

For years, even before they first showed up in the hotels across the US, I used a strip of linen across the bottom of the bed. It’s light and it doesn’t add weight on my feet. My intent was an attempt to keep cat hair off the bed. That didn’t work out so well — My cats refused to sleep where I designate as their sleeping spot.

You know what else? That strip of cloth doesn’t do much when you just want to pull something over you when you go down for a nap. I don’t want to go under the covers because I don’t want to get too cozy and sleep longer than intended.

BedRunner

This weekend, I made a bed runner / nap blanket with a piece of quilting cotton and a piece of coordinating cotton flannel, 2 yards each. Folded in half lengthwise, it looks like a bed runner. Spread out, it’s the perfect size as a cover during a light nap. Since it is just quilting cotton/flannel, it’s easy to toss in the washer/dryer to get rid of cat hair. (Yes, I know it clashes with the duvet cover.)

StormRunner

It’s even Stormy’s approved. She’s a bit grumpy because I woke her up to take the picture. Best of all? It’s still light enough that it doesn’t weigh down my feet. That is, if you discount the 10 pound fur ball on top of it.