Sewing machine cover (tutorial)

I made this easy and quick "stacked books" patchwork sewing machine cover a while back. I've had quite a few people asking about how to make. I hope you'll find this tutorial useful.

Let's start, shall we? Measure your machine. Here's how I measured mine

My machine cover needed to be 16.5" wide and 26.5" long. Here's the sketch of how I decided to place my fabric.

I used Kona bone for my solid fabric and I went through my scrap basket to find strips of fabric long enough for my "books".

The wonderful thing is that you can make your "books" as thin or wide as you want, it's totally up to you (and the size of your scraps). My diagram is definitely just to give you an idea of what you can do. If you need more help, you can check out this tutorial that gives more detail on how to make a stacked books block.

Once you've decided on the layout, go ahead and start sewing. Use 1/4" seam allowance and assemble each strip of solid + pattern + solid first, then sew these long strips, each measuring the exact width of your cover (mine were 16.5"), together.

After you've assembled to top make a quilt sandwich using batting and fabric for the backing. I wanted my cover to be on the sturdier side so I decided to go with decorator's weight fabric for the backing.

Baste and quilt any way you like. I did straight line quilting about 3/4 inch apart.

Cut your ribbon into four 10" pieces. Attach one side of each ribbon to the front of your sewing machine cover about 4 inches from the bottom edges. (sorry, I only have a picture of the ribbon AFTER I put the binding on)

Attach the binding the same way you would for a quilt (I always cut my binding to be 2.5 inches wide).  Make a knot on the ribbon edges that are not sewn in, and you are done. Isn't it great? Congratulations!!! Your machine cover is ready.
Put it over the machine, tie the ribbons to keep it in place and admire how gorgeous your machine looks. And, not only that, it's also protected from dust and pet hair, what more can we ask for?  Beauty and functionality in one.

 Let me know if you have any questions. Svetlana