It's Groovy Man

My hubsand Jon gave me a big fat clue last week.

He said he saw 3 women this past week--they were carrying big purses with peace symbols on them.

I said--you're kidding me, right?

Jon said the women were all different ages, young and old.   By old, I'm sure he meant old hippies like me.

Hummmm,  clickety, clickety, click.

Then the whirly-gig in my head started to spin, and I thought about the peace sign fabric I saw at Hancock Fabrics a week ago.  I saw black batik cotton with lime green peace symbols on it.

The following morning I drove to Stevens Point and bought the fabric.

I cut enough fabric to build a 20" tote and began by quilting the black batik with lime green thread to make it padded and to increase its durability.  It is also an opportunity to use up not so lovely cottons in my stash for the backing, and polar fleece for the loft (middle).   

Here's the interior of the tote.  See inside there?  It's something unique.

There are two seat cushions inside, stacked one on top of the other.

I re-cycled those two foam cushions.  I carved out the center of the foam and turned them into storage containers for my audio equipment. 

Here's the seat cushion converted into a storage container.  The pad on top has a strap and velcro to hold the equipment secure.  The button is an indicator which end of the strap to pull on to release the velcro.

I had a hunk of 1" foam left over from another project.  I cut two squares of  1 inch foam and covered it with the lime green batik to make a backing for the cushions.  I hand-stitched around the perimeter, very small stitches to make the bottom secure.

With the top pad and straps folded under the cushion, you can see the negative space where the equipment is stored.  

Because the equipment is such an odd ball shape, I cut 3" strips of black batik fabric, serged the raw edges, and wraped the strips around and around the cushion until everything was covered.  Some hand stitches on the back keeps the wraps tight and snug.  I am pleased with the results. 

Sometimes my experiments make it as far as the waste paper can--but this one worked out very well.

I can always put the cushions away in the closet too, and use the oversized tote for an ovenight bag.

But, I have a far better idea.  I think it would make a great shopping tote for buying fabric at Hancock's.

  Warning:

There is no cure yet for those who like to buy fabric