a new home for the expensive but delightful mistake

my new laptop arrived a mere 24 hours after i ordered it last week and it didn't take me long to fall completely in love with it. it's so big! and bright! the keyboard lights up! and, man, is it FAST! i haven't given my old lappy a second thought, although shane suggested getting a secondhand monitor and setting it up as a music/video station in my new craft room which i think is a fine old plan. to celebrate (and protect) the new laptop, i spent a few hours last week scheming a design for a laptop case and bag to tote the monsterous beast around in. i spent most of sunday working on the case and, as it came together, realized i hadn't really planned all that well after all, resulting in some dodgy binding finishing on the front flap and the realisation that the button closure i had planned wasn't too practical on a heavy quilted piece:





in the end though, i'm pretty much in love with it. i took it into work and had the genius suggestion of using two buttons and a tie for the old school envelope closure - i just need to sew the chosen button on and pop into spotlight for some linen thread i've been eyeing to finish it off. almost every piece of fabric i used has been printed and/or dyed by me - below shows a pale grey leaf print on raw silk, and rough turquoise circle goccoed onto hand dyed linen.



i also dyed the linen fabric at the top of the front, the heavy cotton binding and the raw silk on the back. so satisfying! and this was my first quilting and binding experience, both of which i'm keen to do more of soon. i used a thrifted wool blanket as the batting and it worked wonderfully. now i just have to finish working out (and i mean REALLY working out this time) the logistics of the bag to carry it around in...