Some first aid for the man in your life

Sorry for keeping you all on hold for so long. As you know, we moved into our new home mid-December and have been busy making modifications. My husband has been knocking down walls, while I have been mostly observed with paint brush in hand. I do not pretend to be good at painting, but using my grade 6 art class knowledge I got to work on some children's furniture pieces and had a lovely time! I just have one more painting project and I am done for a while. However, I could not abandon  my new friend Jane (aka Janome sewing machine) for too long, so I made a little sewing project as a little surprise for my husband.

He has been complaining about a shoulder ache (due to my slave driving perhaps?) and has been using a water bottle to ease the hurt. Unfortunately this particular basic water bottle does not have a cover, so I did a bit of Googling and found this lovely tutorial by Teresa Down Under that was just the thing, while also being inspired by this other water bottle cover by Rebecca Mae Designs.

I used ecru canvas and red cotton solid for the exterior, cotton batting to insulate and some excess bed sheet fabric for the lining.

Using a water soluble marker, I partitioned the pieces to help me with the straight line quilting. I wanted some sharp angles to make it more masculine, while also practicing this technique.

Needless to say, it was so much easier to quilt these little pieces compared to a king size quilt!

After the quilting was done, I cut around and sewed the pieces together by using the quilt binding technique. I tried and failed to sew on the double folded bias as was indicated in the tute. I think it looks neater the way I did it, though.

Here is the back where the bottle can be slid in, much like a pillow case.

And here is the front. I think it is rather amusing to have a first-aid cross on a water bottle, or is it just me?  The hubby has yet to see it, so don't tell him, ok?

Have a surprising day!

Christine