Sewing Project - Bag - Magenta Large

I made a shopping bag from the stitched piece I worked on a while back.  Thought it would be a cushion cover but sure the stitching would have held up. 

I folded the flower stitched piece to 12"x12" and ironed well.  I then cut a piece of white microfiber to 13.5" by 13.5". I laid the magenta piece onto the white and folded the white forwarded as a binding and sewed all the way around.  This will support the loosely woven polyester substrate flower stitched piece.  I then tacked the whole piece to ensure integrity of both layers. 

I had some gradient cotton in purples to warm pinks which worked well with the magenta piece.  I cut the outside piece 21 inches square.

I chose white microfiber for the lining. It's nice to have a light lining so you can see what is inside your bag. I cut the lining 21"W by 24"T. 

The finished size is 19" square with the handles extending 13" from the top edge of the bag.

I added a key clip and extra loop on the inside of the bag.

The straps were cut 1.5" by 42" from the magenta cotton fabric. The ends tuck into the front and back pockets and are stitched from pockets to the bag edge which distributes the load.  

After it was finished I decided that the magenta straps were too flimsy so I added some white microfiber to them as well. I cut a piece 3.25" W and 31" L. Folded in half then pressed each side in to have 4 layers in the end.  I then stitched that to the back of the cotton magenta strap.  Stronger, longer wearing and pretty. 

The front accent pocket measures 12 inches square.  The back lined pocket measures 12"Wx10"T and is split at 5 inches.

I added 3" boxed corners on the bottom.

Scan on the left or click here to find the "My Bag" line.

Fabric Flowers - More

I checked with the gallery and I had sold a couple of flowers so I decided to replenish those.

This is more of the microfiber cloth I used to make this bag.  Soft and pliable I thought would work well with this 5 circle pattern.

Traced the 4.25' inch circles onto the back of the fabric and cut them out by hand. I folded them in half then quarter and stitched along the raw edge of the shape. Strung all 5 onto the same strong thread and pulled tight. 

I stuffed the hole in the middle with a bit of batting.  I sewed the silver 12" wire to the 1.25" card stock circle and then to the flower and center. 

Then I assembled the center of the flower with a scallop circle of white felt, a green smaller shape and a warm pink button. This element was stitched from the front through the flower and center and the card stock wire piece. After all those layers were secure and hand stitched circle of raspberry polyester fabric to cover the mess of stitches at the back. 

I made another fabric flower with yellow cotton strips. I used a 1" wire ring from a set of cafe curtain rings. I had to close the gap where I cut the extra wire off so I added tape. Should use duck tape next time.

I ripped my strips of yellow cotton a bit narrower than 1/2" but it was hard because the fabric ripped horizontally sometimes.  The strips measured 4" long. I put on 25 strips.

I padded my orange center with batting and stitched that on.  The 12" wire was stitched to a card stock circle and that was stitched to the back of the flower.

I stitched on a 1.5 inch circle on the back to hide all the stitching

Another 5 circle flower.  This was a cotton scarf with circle pattern on it.  The circles measure 4.25 inches in diameter.  This fabric is quite a bit looser weave and cinched a lot tighter than the micro fiber cloth.

I decided to put a yellow felt circle in the middle with French knots with black thread.  It was easy stitching through the thin fabric.

A cardstock circle on the back to which the gold 12" wire was stitched and the securely stitched to the flower. 

The backer was a 1.5 inch blue felt circle to hide the stitching.

This fabric is nice and light but the loose weave may not be the best.

These were delivered to the gallery today!

Fabric Flower - White Tulle with Hot Pink Accents

I made a flower to coordinate with my Hot Pink Vase Wrap.

The white tulle was cut to .75 wide and 4.5 inches long.  I put 65 of them onto a 1.75" metal ring with half hitch knots. Then I added 5 hot pink lengths of frilly yarn. That took a long time.

I punched a 2" heavy cardstock circle to create the support for the wire stem.  I stitched the gold twisted wire onto the card stock.  

I then placed a layer of batting and the hot pink cotton fabric to create the center of the flower.  I stitched these layers from the back with heavy thread over the covered ring. 

I then stitched a hot pink fabric circle on the back to cover the wire and stitching. 

Sewing Project - Tea Pot Mats

I made up some tea pot mats for my sister as the fabric did not speak to her.  If for sure did to met.

The fabric was square panels of these tea/coffee related images. The panels measured 11.5 inches square with a black border. 

The sandwich is 100% cotton. The panel on the top, then a layer of cotton batting, then a layer of cotton terry cloth and a bottom layer of cotton for the backing.

I used my walking foot to sew this project. With black thread in the machine I topped stitched around the image.  The backing was cut to 14" square to allow a self binding. The backing is black so that worked well with the black border around the image. I used clips to hold it all in place and then made my final top stitching seam all the way around.

For the red one I chose red cotton fabric for the back because I did not have enough black.  It would have been better but we can always have what is best.

On this one I quilted the square on the red with red thread in the machine which I think worked better. 

The self binding was folded once and then folded to encase the sandwich edge and the fold is on the front.  I decided to leave a small line of the black border to add contrast.

Same sandwich as described earlier in this post.

The blue one got black backer fabric as well.

The quilting was done just inside the center panel edge with black thread.

The black backer was brought forward to create a self binding on the mat.

On the corners I folded the sides first then the top and bottom and stitched a square on the corner.  With such small dimensions mitered corner would have been challenging.

Finished size is just a slight bit over the 11.5 inches I started with.

These are headed back to her.

Sewing Project - Fabric Vase Wrap -The Blues

On this vase wrap I used blue printed fabric scraps.  For a change I sewed them on the diagonal to my flannel foundation fabric using the Quilt As You Go method.  This takes more fabric so I had to find longer strips of fabric. 

I trimmed the piece to 8.5" T x 11"W to allow more of a flap extending from the body of the wrap.  I added a teal cotton poly fabric as the lining which is visible behind the lace.  I sewed the collage piece and the lining right sides together leaving an opening, trimmed the corners and turned it right side out. I then used a curvy decorative stitch to top stitch all around the edge closing the opening at the same time.

Then, it was time to consider how to embellish this piece. I stitched a piece of lace on the lining edge folding the ends top and bottom and used the same curvy decorative stitch.  I then place the wrap around the bottle vase, pinned it and then stitched it closed.

Fabric Flower - Yellow Fluffy

I am trying different techniques to ensure all my flowers are unique.

For this flower I used yellow cotton fabric which I ripped into .5 inch strips.  I cut the strips to 4.5 inches long and wrapped them onto a metal ring that measured 1.75 inches in diameter. I used 25 strips to fill the flower. 

Once, I had that done, I cut a piece of cotton in yellow gingham about 2 inches square double and added a bit of batting in between the layers and a 2 inch circle of card stock to provide support. I placed it on the back of the flower and stitched all the way around through the yellow cotton petals. I then secured the metal wire (4 lengths of 24 gauge wire twisted together) stem through its circle at the top to the center of the flower back. I cut a 2.5 inch circle from the same yellow fabric and hand stitched over the wire to hide that connection.

Sewing Project - Tea Station Mat

I made another mat for the kitchen Tea Station because they need laundering and I like to have one on the counter all the time.

The piece of woodland fabric I got at the ReUse Center a couple of weeks ago.  I tea dyed it in black tea for a couple of hours. 

I added yellow embroidery on the flowers in the print to bring the yellow from the backing piece to the front. 

I put a couple of layers of flannel in the middle.  The back piece is a cotton poly in a golden yellow leopard print.

I cut the front and flannel 7.75" x 13.75" because that was the limit of the back print.

The back print was cut 1.25 inches larger in both directions (9.00 x 15") as I will be self binding the piece.

I pinned all the layers together. With yellow thread I sewed several seams along the length to hold all the layers together. 

I then fold the extra on the back layer to the front once and the again to frame the front piece. I used a fancy stitch to sew down the binding.  Trimmed all the threads and I am done!

Slow Stitching - Door Decor - Winter Snowman

The snow arrived today so it was timely that I finished my winter piece of door decor. 

I chose a snowman as the theme for this piece.  I chose a true blue piece of cotton fabric cut to 6x8 inches. I added a flannel layer and invisible stitched that to the front.  The blue fabric had thread polka dots on it so I stitched white snowflakes on those which made very regulary pattern. 

I chose white fleece for the snowman and the snowbanks. I had a die which cut a snowman but it was too big so I had to resize it to be smaller and work better in this piece.  The first snowbank was stitched on with running stitch on the left hand side.  The snowman was then stitched on with blanket stitch. The snowbank on the left was then added with running stitch.  I added brown stick arms, 3 small yellow star buttons on his belly, black French knots for the eyes and mouth, a tiny orange felt nose which was stitched with orange floss. I chose a length of yarn from my small stash and stitched a scarf right through the layers and knotted it on the front. I then fluffedout the lengths. 

I added a snowflake accent in the top left corner.  It was diecut from white felt with the Sizziz green die. I then used navy floss to add some dimension.   I added an irridescent fabric snowflake and EBead to the center to add a bit of bling.   

I added navy French knots in between the white snowflakes.

I chose a navy cotton fabric for the backer.  Cut to 8x10 inches to provide a 1/2 inch fold over to the front of the piece. That was machine stitched with folded corners this time. I added a grey twill tape hanger like the fall leaves one.

I plan to make one for the Christmas season.

Slow Stitching - Door Decor - Fall Leaves

I really wanted to have decor on my front door a this new to me home.  Many folks do have them and it looks nice.

I decided that I don't have a lot of room to store decor so it would have to be flat.  As a slow stitcher of course a fabric project spoke to me. 

I chose a deep orange printed fabric from my small scraps bucket. I cut it 6x8 inches.  I invisible basted a piece of flannel to give it some body and some dimension.

The leaves were cut from felt and the Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves die set (Bigz die and the mover and shapers).  I cut them from a variety of colors of felt - orange, yellow, bittersweet, and green. 

I stitched them to the front with running stitch creating veins in them as I went. Once they were all secured then I added running stitch in the background with various colors and in different directions. This again helps with structure. 

I added some EBead accents in the colors of the leaves which brings a bit of brightness and bling to the matte piece.

The backer is a piece of brown cotton fabric cut 8 x 10 inches to allow for 1/2 inch double fold over to the front of the piece.. I managed mitered corners.  The backer was adhered to the front with the sewing machine. I added a twill tape hanger on the back which I folded over the ends and machine stitched and also narrowed the width with another small machine stiched seam. The hanger was hand stiched on both ends with a few of the stitches catching all layers so it stayed integral when hanging.  Maybe some quilting through all layers could be considered.

I am happy with the result. 

Sylvia's Simple Shots

 The Egret at the pond is providing a nice distraction.

Apparently, it comes to the pond in the fall and stays for about a month to six weeks.

Still islolating with this illness. It means things are getting done at home so I am grateful for that.

I bought is thermometer back in September.  I finally worked out where to put it on the patio.  I did move it once because it was being affected by the sun.

Now, it is protected so I know what the actual temperature is when I get up.

It helps me know how to dress for my morning walk which I am still taking early. I wear my mask while in the building then enjoy the fresh air outside.

The Sonf of the Silk Road by Mingmei Yip is the book I finished this week.

Lily Lin grew up in Hong Kong and was captivated by photos of the desert - long lonely vistas and sand dunes.

She now lives in New York and is struggling to finish her graduate degree. One day she receives an astonishing offer from an aunt she does not know. Take a trip to China, complete some tasks and then receive a million dollars. She decides to do it.

She prepares by letting friends know she will be away. The married man she has been having an affair wants to know all the details which she does not provide. She researches the trip, where to fly to, where to stay, what the culture is like. 

I found the culture very different. Her way of thinking and relating was interesting.   It was an okay book.

I bought this table cloth in the summer at Ikea. 
I chose a warm grey because I was not sure the navy blue was going to work. SVARTSENAP is 100% cotton, measures Length: 240 cm (94 ") Width: 145 cm (57 ").

I am working towards being well enough to host my family in this new to me home.  I had to cancel my first date.

It need some trimming to fit my table.  I removed some from both the length and width.

I am very happy with the result.

I spent some time in the craft room.

I used the saran wrap and salt techniques to add texture to my 140lb watercolor paper.

Cards will be forthcoming.

 

Sewing Project - Fold Over Wallets

Another set of Fold Over Card Wallets with RFID Protection.

I dipped into the pink bag of fabric scraps because I had bright pink elastic I wanted to use.

A gorgeous floral print with the perfect pink to match the elastic.

Again, the fabric is cut to 5.25 x 11 inches for the outer fabric and the lining fabric.  The RFID fabric measures 5x5.5 inches and is placed in the center of the panel based on the center fold. 

The elastic is place 3.25 inches from the bottom edge. Then a seam is put all around the edge with reinforcement where the elastic sits. Leaving a small slit to turn the sandwich right side out. 

Press the center fold again and by placing the fabric to the light you can see where the opaque RFID fabric starts and that is where the fold is placed and ironed. Repeat on the other end.  Iron the slit well so the edges are well aligned. Top stitch down both flaps with a seam that goes all along the right hand edge making sure you do not trap the elastic. Repeat on the left hand side.  Done!

I wanted to make a couple that were more masculine in color and pattern so I chose this navy and white bold plaid.

A white lining and a navy blue elastic completes this wallet.

Another wallet with the other half of the pink elastic.

This is a striped cotton fabric.  I gave it an ivory lining fabric.

What cards do you put in these wallets: All kinds - credit cards, transit cards, library cards, loyalty cards, business cards (yours or those you need to access regularly) and a few I am sure I have not thought of.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

We have had this big white bird resting at the little pond for a few days.

I spent some time sitting in the wet grass taking a lot of shots in hopes of getting a good one.

This is an Egret as it has black legs where as a White Heron has yellow legs.  This has been talk that there has been a white heron in the vacinity and it has attracted the long lenses.  It would be very much out of it range to be in Alberta I understand.

Thrilled to see this bird.

I attended a client open house this week where I met a few other folks who had purchased properties.

It was held at a farm with a flower cutting garden, a large pumpkin patch and good food provided by the Rolling Deli.

The food was excellent.

I asked for a few flowers instead of a pumpkin.  My mom had a flower cutting garden and had fresh flowers in a vase on the table all summer. 

I was thrilled the hostess shared a few flowers with me.

Cosmos, Zinnias, Straw Flowers were a few.

The Clockmaker's Wife by Daisy Wood was a great book.  A great World War II story about a plot to bomb Big Ben.  Big Ben is the great bell of the Great Clock of Westminster which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England.

1940 England - Nell Spelman is the wife of Arthur Spelman who takes care of the clock.  Due to the horrendous bombing in London Arthur sends Nell and the baby Alice to the country side. When Arthur disappears Nell is compelled to go back to London to find out what is happening. 

2021 New York Ellie is Alice's daugther. Alice is very old and needing care. Ellie discovers a beautiful watch which belongs to her mother but Alice does not know it's history. Ellie decides to go to England find long lost relatives and dig to see what happened.

Turns out that Nell discovered a plot to bomb Big Ben and gave her life to save the treasure. Alice lost her mother when she was a few months old.  She was eventually reunited with her father Arthur but he was not open to discussing the war.

This week was a flurry of preparation to host my first group of family in my new place.

I only had a mis mash of small dessert bowls and I was sure that I would find what I wanted in thrift stores.  When that did not happen I decided to check out what IKEA had in the way of dishes.

After considering several options in the marketplace I chose these.  OLIVTRAST are beverage vessels made of tempered glass. I love the textured glass and the size is great for tea, coffee, juice or dessert.  They stack beautifully which is great for my little place.

Super happy with these.

I found a new cotton rug for the kitchen.

It has yellow and grey and warm tones which works well with the floor.  It is a big darker than the other one I have.

It will show dirt less and therefore easier to maintain on an ongoing basis.

It is 100% cotton.

With my anti skid mat from IKEA - STOPP it works out very nicely.

The cost was under $10 which was a bargain.

I picked up my new glasses on Friday.  I chose to get another pair despite my prescription really not changing much because I should have a spare set of glasses.  

The pair I got 4 years ago have been great but I would be lost to do much if something happened to them.

A lighter frame than the other pair. Love the teal color.

I have had this tiered serving tray for quite a while. In the past there were turquoise melanine plates that were fit into it.  

The new place just did not work with turquoise so I was on a quest to replace them with clear glass platters.

At FIND store in the city I found 2 identical platters measuring 11.5 inche diameter for $4 dollars each. These are vintage glass made by the Federal Glass Company with the Heritage pattern.  

I love the flower in the center and the dots of glass on the bottom which create sparkle.  Nice to have that check off as I will be hosting my immediate family soon.

I was looking for a clear glass cream and sugar set for this new place.

At Goodwill on Friday I found this set of a water pitcher, creamer and sugar bowl in fine blown glass.

Black accents are okay.

The price was again under $10.00.  A steal in my opinion.

They are beautiful.  I am not sure if they are crystal.

They are not marked so not sure if they may be made in China.  Very likely.

I invited some my aunts and uncles who live nearby for coffee on Saturday.

I made apple crisp and served it with vanilla ice cream in my new dessert dishes.

I pulled the extra 2 pine chairs for the dining room table.  I added small leaf table at the end.  I need to look at fabric place mats but this time I used what I had which were plastic ones.

We had a great visit and it was the inaugural session of hosting for me in this new place.

Looking forward to many more.

The Little Italian Hotel by Phaedra Patrick.

Ginny is planning a surprise trip to Italy for their 25th wedding anniversary.  When out for a special supper she announces the surprise she does not get the response she anticipated. Her husband has news of his own. He is leaving and wants a divorce.  WOW!

She is unable to cancel the trip because the deadline has passed. She changes the booking hotel to a small one nearby which allows her to bring a few folks with her.  On her radio show she puts out the call for people who need time away to heal to join her on this trip. Yes, complete strangers.

The little hotel in Italy is grateful for the 3 week booking of 5 rooms.  Nico should be remodelling and modernizing his hotel but he promised his mother on her deathbed to keep the charm of the old.

Each guest is nursing a hurt and it takes a while for her gain their trust so they are willing to share the truth.  Daily activities are planned and each guest get to chose and plan on activity revealing a little bit about themselves.   Once back home, Ginny is not sure what life is going to be like.  There is a nice twist at the end of the book.

Slow Stitching - May 2025 - Week 4

K3N Cloth Tales Comfort Coverlet 2025 Slow Stitching project - May- Week 4.

I finished my Books square in the coverlet slow stitching project.   

I added the tiny fabric book that hold my favorite authors.  You can find the details in this post.

I added more vine along the top of the book case from the blue pot. 

I added texture stitching - tiny seed stitching around the book to hold together the tea dyed top fabric to the foundation layer. 

I chose neutral tones used in the piece itself. 

I love it!

Slow Stitching - May 2025 - Week 3

K3N Cloth Tales Comfort Coverlet 2025 Slow Stitching project - March - Week 3.

I continue to add elements to my books square. 

I have added standing books to the top shelf of the bookcase with a variety of colors. Again, the stitch is the outline stitch with 2 strands of thread.

Then, a set of books laying on the second shelf featuring nice colored covers.

I added a red vase with flowers on the bottom shelf. 

Slow Stitching - May 2025 - Week 2

K3N Cloth Tales Comfort Coverlet 2025 Slow Stitching project - May - Week 2.

I continued with my books theme this week. 

Added green leaves with vines in single thread to the vine along the left hand edge. I used a variety of green colored thread. 

I added a book to the top shelf featuring a green edge, gold oval and green star in the center. It's cover facing out.

Then, a clock to the middle shelf in gold thread with black hands. 

Then, glasses to the bottom one.  I need those to read. Very important.

The embroidery is all done with the outline stitch. 

Sewing Project - Bread Bags

I decided to make myself some bread bags to bring home my Country Grain loaves from COBS because the plastic bags are stacking up.

I chose 100% cotton fabric in yellows, greys and white. This was a large piece of fabric that I have used for many projects.

I used the COBS plastic bag as a template - 18.5 inches tall x 11.5 inches W.

I wanted the seams finished on the inside and a generous gusset at the top so the measures were generous.

The first one I did was put together with out too much attention to measures of the beginning piece of fabric.

The second one was too large and had to be reduced to match the first one.  

The measurements of the fabric would be 26.00 wide to be folded in half and 20.00 inches tall with 1.5 inches for the gusset at the top.

I chose cotton twill tape for the string in the gusset.  

I added a buttonhole on the front of the gusset on the front of the back before I sewed down the gusset. 

A large safety pin to pull the twill tape through.

I added a tab of yellow cotton to the ends of the tape to give me purchase to pull the bag closed.

I then boiled them in tea for about 10 minutes to even out  the colors.   Once rinsed they were dried.

I added a "My Bag" tag to these bags and they are included in on my "My Bag Line" page.

I then chose to add some slow stitching to the front of the bags onto the light square.  There are 5 circles in different colors where the top was outline stitch and the bottom was the running stitch.

I don't know what the staff at COBS will think of the idea but we shall see.

For information on the line. 

Slow Stitching 2025 - March - Week 1

K3N Cloth Tales Comfort Coverlet 2025 Slow Stitching project - March - Week 1.

This month I have chosen as my theme - "My Favorite Colors". Pink, Navy, Yellow and Turquoise. Pink for flowers, Turquoise for our blue skies, Yellow for Sunshine and Navy for jeans.

I picked some fabric from my stash and placed bands of these colors diagonally on my foundation piece. I sewed them on in a Quilt as You Go fashion. Starting in the center and moving out.

I left a 1" margin around the edge unattached. 

I invisible basted the colors layer to the cotton foundation piece along the outside border at about 1 inch.

Slow Stitching - No. 048 - Cloth Gathering

Next piece of  K3N Cloth Tales Slow Stitching Challenge 2024.

Week 48 - Cloth Gathering.

I chose this soft yellow cotton fabric. I cut a piece 3 times the length of my anticipated final piece (5.5 x 3 =16.5 inches). 

I used pieces of embroidery floss longer than the cloth by a few inches.  I chose them from my ORTS tin. I think I did 9 rows of running stitch.  Make sure your knot is secure - a back stitch would be helpful.

I then pulled the threads to scrunch up the fabric. It feels really nice.

I really liked the stem stitch along the top edge which was just stitched to the top of each fold in green thread. I put crosses in blue on the left.  I did not find adding stitches to this piece easy except the stem stitch.

Slow Stitching - Zokin

I needed to do some slow stitching so I dug some cloth from the stash and started.

This is 100% cotton dishtowel well used with holes.  I ripped it down and folded in half.  I added a few felt patches over the holes. This little heart is one.

I stitched with some thread from ORTS tin which give me a bunch of different colors.  I stitched in both directions.

A long sashiko needle came in handy with project.

It measures 2.5 inches and I could put a lot of stitches at one time and just pull that thread through.

Added this cleaning cloth in the bin in the laundry closet.  Ready to clean up messes and then washed and used again.

Another piece of cloth to be useful again.

 

Stitching - Exercise Mat

With the floor being installed I decided that I would need a mat to do exercises in the living room.  The floor is hard and provides no cushioning.

I researched options and found a large rug at IKEA which was 100% cotton and a color I could live with.  I had bought a yoga mat from my sister who had purchased it for a class and never used it again.  That provides the non slipping base for the rug.  I only do walking videos so there is not much impact exercises.

It is about 5 x 7 feet in size so doubling it up with the yoga mat would provide 3 layers of cushion.  That should be good.

I did try it for a few days until I was convinced that the idea would work.

It would really need to be solidified into a single piece now that it was folded because there were open edges which presented tripping hazards.

The blue yoga mat is just a bit smaller than the mat which is okay.

It really sticks to the floor so keeps the mat in place very well.

It is big enough to do my floor exercises and the cushion makes those comfortable.

I clipped the folded edge first for stitching.  That way any adjustment can be made on the open edges if needed.

I laid the hemmed edges opposite the fold next to each other instead of over each other to make that edge smoother.

I chose some heavy 100% cotton crochet cotton for the stitching. It is Clark's Anchor Cronita size 10 in Turquoise to add a bit of color to the mat.

I am so grateful for what I have learned on my slow stitching journey this year.  These experiences gave me confidence to know I could do this.  I found a heavy needle in my stash. 

I used a back stitch which doubled up the stitching on the back.  Hopefully that will wear better than single stitch.

Now there were a lot of inches to go about 250 of them so it was going to take a while.

The weaving of the thread was quite open considering the size of needle I was using.  The weaving was very even so I could just follow the edge of a row.

I made crosses at the corners to really tied down those thick corners.

I am very happy with my even stitching.

The turquoise color is great.

It took about 8 hours of stitching to go all the way around.

It feels and looks great!

I found a piece of webbing and a clasp to make a strap to keep it closed when I roll it up every day when I am done.

This clasp just traps the webbing in a clip on both sides so no sewing was required.

I am amazed sometimes at what I have in my stash.

It was exactly what I needed.

Everything needs a home at my house so I placed a basket on the bottom shelf of my IVAR shelving unit to hold the mat and my indoor exercise running shoes. 

That works very well tucked away in the corner of the living room.

A two week project but bodes well for regular exercise with  my walking videos now that fall is here and the temps will be cooler.