sleeping under cities

Lower Manhattan quilt

Maps in home decor: it's no secret how thrilling I find this idea. The beautiful vintage colors or detailed lines can make a boring room spring to life. They can make a home feel cozier and add a personal, nostalgic touch if the map is of somewhere special: a hometown, the site of an important milestone or event, or the foreign city you feel in love with on a backpacking trip. That's why Haptic Lab is my new crush. Not only do they sell maps for the home, they sew them. That's right, their specialty is making map quilts. Was there ever a more glorious word combination? Those are two of my most favorite things!

custom map of Silver Lake, Los Angeles

Haptic Lab sells some colorful baby blankets of different cities, but their main business is in quilting out maps. You can buy ready-made city quilts of Washington D.C., London, NYC, Paris, and San Fransisco, but their aim is for you to choose any city that holds a special place in your heart so that you have an heirloom to enjoy and pass down. Over 200 hours are spent hand making each quilt. Talk about a labor of love! Haptic Lab makes quilts in an endless variety of colors and fabrics, mostly in luxurious silk. I'm usually the first advocate for a bright pop of color, but I love the demur beauty of the all-white stitched map quilts. There's something very romantic about them. I've included a few of my favorites from Haptic Lab after the jump. Enjoy! -hil

Rome quilt

topographic map quilt of Julian, California

wedding quilt of Halifax, Nova Scotia

trail map of Telluride, Colorado

Penobscot Bay quilt