Feels good to finish!

I was thrilled to be the recipient of an iPad for Christmas in December.  Although it came with the cool magnetic cover (as a separate gift) I wanted to have a case to carry it safely when I decide I need to carry it with me.  I looked at what others had made, patterns available and cases for sale to decide what features I wanted.  This is what I came up with- designed by the seat of my pants as I went.  You can't see it well, but it has hotfix crystals on the front flap, since I just love sparkly stuff.

 The sides of the case have velcro so it can be opened up like a "folio".  It has a pocket for a small pad of paper, and a pen.  At the right end you can see the charger and cord sticking out from their pocket.  Next to that is the pocket for headphones.  The iPad itself (at the left end) fits neatly into its own pocket- padded and reinforced with Timtex. The blue is the magnetic cover.  I really should get the lime green one to match the case, right?   It wouldn't survive being dropped from a bridge, but I won't worry about the rest of the crap I carry in my purse damaging it now!

I also made myself a new bejeweled "port-a pocket".  This is a sort of necklace bag- although I often wear them around my waist. (many skirts and dresses just don't look right with pockets added!)  I keep my brain in there!  I started doing this years ago.  I needed a place for the little reminders to myself I can't live without.  Currently I am using little books made from a single sheet of paper.  (Here's how!)  I have lots of these little pockets, which are also handy for carrying cell phones, tissues, cash and credit cards... whatever small items you don't have pockets for, but want to keep in a handy spot.
The sparkles on this one were added by hand.

I also got another section of my "liberated" project quilted , bound and attached to the previous pieces.  This is a cover for small bookshelves in my guest room/ studio.







 I played with some quilting designs from Modern Quilting Designs
along with some of the same designs I had used on the other sections. 




I haven't figured out if you're supposed to do the feathers first, or make the swirly shapes and then fill them with feathers, but enjoyed doing it enough to try it again.












Unfortunately you can't see the cool feather swag I did in the pale floral print on the front.  It looks pretty good on the back, though.

I'm putting the finishing touches on the spiral quilt today.  I titled it "Never Together Never Apart".
I hope you can see the quilting.  I'm pleased with this piece because it in no way detracted from the beauty of the fabric, but when you look at it, there's a whole different design.  Sort of two pieces of art in a single quilt!



All in all, I had a good week!


My "green" tip this time is one I hadn't thought of until I saw it in a list of tips I read!  Do you go to the car wash often?  Do they recycle their water?  If you don't know- ASK!  If they don't, find one that does!  In the summer months you can help your lawn and wash your car by doing it at home with a bucket of soapy water, a sponge and your hose!

I am grateful for:
Jake wasn't seriously hurt in his fairly serious accident!
Pretty flowers from my boss for Valentine's day.
Audiobooks (how did I ever sew before I tried them?!?)
Salad!
It wasn't an actual emergency.