Oh Echino, I love you!

I want to thank Jen Bailly (bettycrockerass) for taking all the pictures of the quilt in this post.

This is the cozy couch quilt I made for my son for Christmas. I totally forgot to post about it, and realized last week that I didn't even have a picture of it. My daughter's quilt got finished first, and it was a race to get this one done in time - but I did. They both love their quilts and regularly snuggle with them on the couch.

Can I just say that I LOVE Echino fabric? It's so bright, graphic, and bold. It is also a joy to work with the cotton-linen blend. I used some kona solids and some 100% linen in this quilt as well. I think it turned out really fun, and we all kind of fight over it a bit in the evenings.

It's backed with a piece of minky that I got at 50% off, and it quilted up pretty nice. It was a bit heavy for my walking foot to pull through, so I had to help it along quite a bit. Even so, it wasn't all that bad to quilt.

We just rolled back into town after a long spring break weekend at the coast....ahhh, the ocean air does wonders to my mood and my brain. I feel pretty much ok for the first time in awhile. Cheers all!

First Pass: The His 'n Hers Kindle Cover

I've got a to do list longer than my grocery list right now, and since I haven't shopped in 2 weeks that's saying something. So when my husband's new Kindle arrived in the mail I saw an opportunity to procrastinate even more and make up a cool cover for it. He ordered the new Kindle 3 with wi-fi, it's really pretty stinkin cool. It's super small and it seems really delicate. I had grand plans of making a cool, quilted cover - but those were traded for, make it quick, get it done now because the kids are going absolutely crazy, and what did you feed them??

So I did some quick measurements and calculations (ok, my computer did the hard work) and came up with a pattern that should fit this little guy really snug and protect it pretty well. I wanted something that my husband would be happy to carry, but was still cool. The Echino bus fabric was perfect. I did a simple flap closure, and had the hubby cut 1" circles out of orange velcro on the laser cutter for a closure. I thought of a snap first, but I didn't want to have to put pressure on a point on the Kindle to close the cover. I normally don't like working with velcro because it always looks like a kindergarten craft project when I'm done with it, but the laser cutter and some super slow sewing solved that. I know you can buy pre-cut circles of hook and loop tape, this would work well too.

As I was thinking about all the innards and lining of this bag, I thought about how cute and cool it would be to make a little patchwork pouch. Then I thought, well why not make one for when I use the Kindle? Well, I don't have time for that - it's redundant anyway. Ah ha moment - I should make this bag reversible!


Flip it on through and this is what you have! I think it's really cute, albeit unpolished. Hence, the title - First Pass. It's a little poufy, and the topstitching is terrible. It barely fit around my sewing machine to topstitch it - a problem I haven't figured out how to remedy yet. Having the plain linen blend fabric at the top of the pouch prevents any 'girliness' from showing when it's turned out to the 'his' side, but gives it a clean look on the patchwork 'hers' side. It's lined with a layer of sew-in fleece (I would have used fusible, but it's more expensive so I don't keep it on hand), and a layer of PUL - that's polyurethane laminate - the stuff used in diaper covers to prevent leaks. So it's also water resistant - in case I happen to be carrying it in a diaper bag with a leaky sippy cup.


I think it was a good first pass, it was super quick, I like it and it will get used. However, I feel the need to refine it a bit and do a second pass. Next time, I NEED to photograph my process so I can do a little tutorial. I do have drawings for the pattern too. Does anyone else have the new Kindle? I'd happily share the pattern - it does fit like a glove. Have a great weekend!