Tool Time Tuesday... Quilt Bungee Cord Cover

Welcome to another edition of Tool Time Tuesday. I've received so many emails and comments asking how I come up with ideas for my posts. Well, some of the time I'm just wandering around Home Depot and something inspires me. Other times things are just staring me right in the face in my every day life.

Here is one instance of something I use in so many ways (or should I say sew many ways!!)...bungee cords.

You remember Annie, our 11 year old yellow lab. In past posts, I've made a gate with pvc pipes for her (click here) and an elevated dog dish made from an old picnic basket (click here). Well, I use bungee cords regularly to wrap up her blanket when she has to go some where. Here she is already to go to the kennel for a couple days when we went on a trip to Maine.

Bungee cords are very inexpensive and you can find them any where...even the dollar store.

Just wrap it around the quilt...

and loop the 2 hooks together.

So here's where the tutorial comes in.

We can use bungees to wrap human quilts for...

• a picnic
• the beach
• children's sleepovers...bungee cord the sleeping bag or quilt with the pillow in one bunch

 The only problem is...these things are not cute!

To start, measure the length of the bungee cord.

Take your measurement and double it to cut the fabric.

Now cut your strip of fabric. I cut mine 3 1/2" wide by the full width of the fabric, which is about 42-44" wide. The length of the fabric happened to be double of my bungee cord measurement.

Fold the fabric strip in half length wise.

Iron the length of the strip.

Now sew the length with a 1/4" seam allowance, but leave both short ends open.

I used black thread so you can see the stitching.

Turn the fabric tube inside out.

Now start feeding the bungee cord through the fabric tube.

Attach the ends of the fabric tube to each end of the bungee cord, just below the wire. You can attach it in a few different ways.

• sew it with a few stitches to the fabric cord
• hot glue the ends to the cord
• use those zip ties that you thread through and pull tight and they don't come undone
• wrap wire around it tightly after you hot glue

Now here you have a really cute bungee cord...perfect to wrap around any quilt. Don't forget to match your bungee cord cover to your quilt though.

I'm off to show Annie her new bungee...she's going to be so excited. Ok, maybe I'm the only one who will be excited that her cord now matches her blanket.

Happy Tuesday,
~Karen~