Crafting 365

I've been a member of the Flickr Crafting 365 group for awhile now. Only a few days ago did I realize what that meant; members are trying to do a bit of crafting every day for 365 days and upload a photo of such daily. Whoops. I had been uploading at intermittent times and definitely not crafting everyday. Seeing as how the office is somewhat clean, Spring has awakened my creative spirit again, and I went to the fabric store yesterday and got a bunch of new fabric, I will now be actually attempting Craft 365. In the sort-of words of Ben Folds, "I've got one I finished yesterday and I've got three (sixty four) to go."

Here it is, a fabric box that I made to keep our house clutter free [can you tell I'm sick and tired of clutter?].

Amazing that last week I said 'we should put a box at the bottom of the stairs to collect things to go up' and this week it actually happened. The damask is navy blue from JoAnns, the natural fabric is unbleached cotton that I LOVE LOVE LOVE and would wrap everything in the house in, including the Husband and the cat, if I could.

My favorite part of this box is the way the edge turned out. I have been trying to slow down my sewing; focus less on speed and more on a beautiful finished piece. The slower speed has allowed me to stitch straighter and with smaller seams. Look at that!

I've also started writing all my sewing notes in this book. I usually pull out whatever scrap paper I can find (as you can tell by my first draft of notes in the background). Now I will not have to search the house for little scraps of paper, or worry that my project plans have gone out with the recycling.

I am all set to make another box; same natural fabric, but with a cream and grassy green damask. After that I will attempt to slipcover a chair [that fuzzy one in the first photo]. Any hints, tips, or tricks??