I love solids!

This is the sewing machine cover that I made for my secret partner in the For the Love of Solids swap. I  truly love this piece. My partner's palette was beautiful and I added a bunch of similar colours (all the outside fabrics are Kona solids). I like the depth of colour and interest that a variety of shades gives you when working with solids.



The thing about a three dimensional item like this is that you cannot see all the sides at the same time. So I decided to make the sides quite different, while still hoping to achieve  a modern, bold and somewhat minimalist look.



This is the view from the top. I decided that I would do something yet again different and use both colours. Here you can also see how the edges are finished. This little bit of faux piping really gives the soft cover a square shape which adds to the modern look.



The construction was fun. This is a photograph of the cover before I turned it into a box. First you can see that it is really hard to photograph these colours - the completed pictures are more true. The cover started as just one panel. I used this approach because I was not keen on sewing a lot of thick seams.

I used Ayumi from the Pink Penguin's tutorial for her little fabric organizer boxes (click here), or for those of you who are familiar with tote bags with boxed corners, that is all this is. The tricky part was making sure that I put the coloured bits in the right places so that they showed up where I wanted them once all the folding and boxing occurred.



I lined it with some aqua (this is actually an Amy Butler solid) that I had on my shelf. I am still sweating the measurements, by the way. I added some ease to all the dimensions my partner noted so that it would not get stuck on the way on or off, but I have no access to a sewing machine like my partner's to test it. I suppose if it is too small I can make her a replacement.



I love the dense quilting. I used three different variegated threads (2 Sulky, 1 Valdani) to add yet more colour in the same range. I especially like how the "chocolate brownies" thread added so much to the Kona expresso - yup, those names do make me hungry.

And I washed this one and again am glad I did, as it adds a lot to the overall look. That is not why I washed it, however. I figured that it would get dusty and maybe a coffee would get spilled on it, and so I want to make sure that it would not shrink too much or fall apart. I am hoping my partner will use it, and thus will need to wash it from time to time.



In this swap we also send a small item, so I made this little pincushion and fabric box out of some of the left over scraps.



Here is a parting shot, which might be how you would see it as you were sitting down to begin sewing for the day.

I am linking this up to Megan from Canoe Ridge Creation's {Sew} Modern Monday and tomorrow I will link to Heather and Megan at Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday - you can see both buttons over on the right side of the blog. The projects linked to both are always lovely so I hope you have time to go and visit.

Best,

Leanne