A Quilted Toile and a New 'Old' Box

My husband surprised me with a new 'old' box he made for me.  

This is not stained - it's 'aged' to this color.

This box is made of very old wood he'd found in his father's workshop when we cleaned it out a few years ago.  A treasure!  A box this special will hold my current handsewing projects, so I wanted to line it with some sort of 'quilted' liner.

I chose a piece of toile fabric from my stash and decided to practice my free motion quilting skills.  I don't know what was going on with my machine, but I had so much trouble with my bobbin thread.... but in the end I found that when I held my 'sandwich' real tight, my bobbin sewed beautifully.  So it all came back on me really.... right?

This 10 1/2" x 15" free motion quilted piece wore me out!  I practiced all sorts of squiggles, zigzags and swirls.  Hard to see below, but the effect here sort of looks like flowing water under the bridge.

It was important the liner was completed today as I've already got my next handsewing project prepped and ready to go.  This will be another Alabama Chanin inspired garment  - a scarf.

My special box will stay in our hearthroom to keep my handsewing projects handy to work on in the evenings..... and look beautiful simply sitting out for all to enjoy.  
UPDATE 2.21.2014 - the Alabama Chanin inspired scarf is done.  You can see the finished scarf, along with a mini-tutorial of how it was constructed, here.