The inspiration for this cute little book of plastic zip lock wonderness came across my counter from a lovely EPPer called Marjorie. She was in the shop topping up her collection of templates and she just casually flipped out her organiser like a millionaire flips out a card wallet at a swanky restaurant.
I was, of course, impressed and full of questions all at once.
I had been using one of those plastic boxes you buy from the hardware shop, with all the sections in it, but I found that my templates kept sliding under the fence. Escapees!
Having given the contraption a good looking over, it was just a matter of minutes before I was raking around in my stash and rabbiting through the kitchen drawers.
I decided to use octagons as the main shape - I had recently posted some out for our road test in Septembers issue of Quilters Companion Magazine - but I hadnt as yet used them.
They are not as versatile as the humble hexagon, despite having more edges to play with! Their main co-ordinating shape is the square and right angled triangle, having 90 and 45 degrees in common with the octagon.
Having cut some crowns for an order for Jukejemas Quilting Barn, I was tempted to combine the two shapes and I just kept thinking about "King Octopi" - that's an octopus with a crown. ( Yes I really do run a business - hard to believe isnt it)
So here it is... the Octo Organiser, made to separately store your EPP templates.
The sewing of the feature applique is of course all done by hand, using your preferred method of EPP. If you are new to Eppiflex, check out Preparing your patches with Eppiflex templates.
When your applique is ready to be sewn in place, prepare a piece of fabric that will act as the booklet cover, by sandwiching it with some wadding and quilting it. I started with a piece that was 9.5" x 20".
I love free motion quilting so it was a great opportunity to practice. But crosshatching or just some wavy lines of quilting would look great too.
When you are done quilting, fold the quilted fabric in half lengthways and pin your completed applique to the front cover, making sure you centre it. Sew it to the background now using your preferred method ( for me thats an invisible hand applique method like needleturn applique)
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Cut a fabric lining the same size as your quilted outer edge. This is the piece you will be sewing your ziplock bags to. Fold it in half so that you can mark the spine either with a pin or pen.
Your last two ziplock bags will be sewn at this centre marking and then covered with a ribbon trim.
I have used 8 bags in my organiser but you might use less or more.
Continue sewing in the ziplock bags, pinning them about 1cm (1/2") closer to the spine each time. (This measurement worked for the number of bags I had - make adjustments as you need to)
Repeat this process with the left side of your book, again beginning with the far left bag and working toward the middle.
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Finish off the inside by pinning a length of co-ordinating ribbon over the inner "spine" of your book. Sew down both sides of the ribbon, close to the edge.
The rest of the construction is easy peasy as you are simply connecting outer book to lining with a binding. I cut my binding 2 1/2" the same as I would a quilt binding.
I hope you enjoy making your organiser - its a lovely quick EPP project , and I have to admit its something I use everyday ( but don't tell Richard, he thinks Im doing housework)
I was, of course, impressed and full of questions all at once.
I had been using one of those plastic boxes you buy from the hardware shop, with all the sections in it, but I found that my templates kept sliding under the fence. Escapees!
Having given the contraption a good looking over, it was just a matter of minutes before I was raking around in my stash and rabbiting through the kitchen drawers.
I decided to use octagons as the main shape - I had recently posted some out for our road test in Septembers issue of Quilters Companion Magazine - but I hadnt as yet used them.
They are not as versatile as the humble hexagon, despite having more edges to play with! Their main co-ordinating shape is the square and right angled triangle, having 90 and 45 degrees in common with the octagon.
Having cut some crowns for an order for Jukejemas Quilting Barn, I was tempted to combine the two shapes and I just kept thinking about "King Octopi" - that's an octopus with a crown. ( Yes I really do run a business - hard to believe isnt it)
So here it is... the Octo Organiser, made to separately store your EPP templates.
The sewing of the feature applique is of course all done by hand, using your preferred method of EPP. If you are new to Eppiflex, check out Preparing your patches with Eppiflex templates.
When your applique is ready to be sewn in place, prepare a piece of fabric that will act as the booklet cover, by sandwiching it with some wadding and quilting it. I started with a piece that was 9.5" x 20".
I love free motion quilting so it was a great opportunity to practice. But crosshatching or just some wavy lines of quilting would look great too.
When you are done quilting, fold the quilted fabric in half lengthways and pin your completed applique to the front cover, making sure you centre it. Sew it to the background now using your preferred method ( for me thats an invisible hand applique method like needleturn applique)
Cut a fabric lining the same size as your quilted outer edge. This is the piece you will be sewing your ziplock bags to. Fold it in half so that you can mark the spine either with a pin or pen.
Your last two ziplock bags will be sewn at this centre marking and then covered with a ribbon trim.
I have used 8 bags in my organiser but you might use less or more.
Continue sewing in the ziplock bags, pinning them about 1cm (1/2") closer to the spine each time. (This measurement worked for the number of bags I had - make adjustments as you need to)
Repeat this process with the left side of your book, again beginning with the far left bag and working toward the middle.
Finish off the inside by pinning a length of co-ordinating ribbon over the inner "spine" of your book. Sew down both sides of the ribbon, close to the edge.
The rest of the construction is easy peasy as you are simply connecting outer book to lining with a binding. I cut my binding 2 1/2" the same as I would a quilt binding.
I hope you enjoy making your organiser - its a lovely quick EPP project , and I have to admit its something I use everyday ( but don't tell Richard, he thinks Im doing housework)
