INSPIRED...iPad Case

“The creative process takes its own course. 

If it did otherwise, it would not be creative.”

- P.W. Martin, Author 

I made an iPad sleeve two years ago when I purchased my iPad, here is what the end product looked like:

The source of inspiration came from Sue Benner; the first time I saw her work, I fell in love. Here is her website: http://www.suebenner.com/. And here is a sample of her work: 

With this information in hand, I decided that I would make two mini quilts (one for the outside and one for the lining), adhere them together, and hopefully have an iPad sleeve stable enough to protect my machine.

As shown below, I started by penciling a grid on muslin as a template for the outside quilt.

I put Steam-a-Seam on the back of cool-colored fabric, cut the fabric into 1 1/2 inch strips, and then cut the strips into squares. 

I painstakingly placed the squares onto my penciled-in grid.

I created the same squares and layout for the warm-colored fabrics and created the decorative ovals. After spending hours to get to this point, it was tough to take that first brushstroke of paint onto the fabric.  I had to play a bit with colors before I became comfortable with it. 

I did echo grid-like quilting around the ovals for the outside.  The inside lining has a beautiful citron colored silk that I machined quilted with a pattern. 

 I even have a convenient pocket for my stylus made out of ultra suede.

I used binding once the two quilts were adhered together with a large button as my closure. 

So fast forward two years and this is my iPad case...still looking good!  Before I started using my case two years ago, I brushed a wax on the outer quilt, it worked surprisingly well.  The outside looks like a fine leather that was used for a couple of years.  My regret is that I did not wax the binding and eventually the corners began to wear. I decided to wax the binding in order to save it.  It appears to be working though you can see a little wear on the corners. I bought a skin for the outside that compliments the sleeve.

 Inside lining also still looking good!  I still love this case!