Quilted Sewing Caddy

Several, several weeks ago, I recieved a package in the mail... it was a gift from my mother-in-law! I have a lot to live up to with that lady - an amazing cook, sewer, quilter (hand-quilting!) and furniture refinisher - not to mention being so kind and generous! I look forward to when Grizz and I live close to our families again... there are lots of sewing, canning, antiquing days in our future :)

Anyways, the gift was a kit for a sewing caddey that she purchased at a local quilt store. It came with three fat quarters, fusible fleece and directions.

I did a few things different than what the instructions told me to do... they wanted me to do fusible fleece in the pockets along with the backdrop. Well, I knew there would be no way that my machine could handle three layers of fusible fleece, so I just used some interfacing in the pockets instead. Still, when it got time to sew the final binding on, I was skipping stitches like crazy by the pockets. Frustrating! I changed my needle twice during this entire project... perhaps my machine doesn't like fusible fleece?! I had to use a quilting needle, as even my trusty denim needles couldn't handle it! 

 When I was attaching the binding on the pockets, I decided that I didn't want to take the time to hand-stitch the binding to the back, and you know I still don't trust myself trying to sew-in-the-ditch to attach it to the back... so next best thing? Decorative stitches! :)

The quilting went OK - I used disappearing ink and my cutting ruler to draw the lines. I had a little trouble with skipped stitches here, too. Needle change! Perhaps it was the thread I used? It was just the stuff you get at JoAnns that I had in stock already. My stitch length was 3.5. Anyhoo... I got through it :)

 The directions wanted the ties sewn on the long edge, but I decided to put them at the top instead. Now I can even hang it on a hook if I want to!

Anytime I want to go sew over at Neighbor's, I can just wrap up my goodies and head on over!

And, if I'm going farther, or just want to bundle them up more to make sure nothing falls out, I can fold it this way as well.

Overall, I really enjoyed this project, and I love the way it turned out! It even matches how I hope to decorate my future sewing room with - black, white and various bright, solid colors! Perfect!

So, once again... a shout out to Grizz's mother... THANK YOU! :)

(Linking up with Connie's Linky Party Tuesday and Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesdays)