It turns out I'm more persistent than I thought. I took the stupid desk organizer apart for the third or fourth (fifth?) time, trimmed the Timtex and sewed the whole thing back together. I got it to a point where it was still a total mess but I felt I could live with it. Time to sew on the handles. While sewing on the last handle I broke a needle. I replaced it and promptly broke another needle this time getting hit in the face with needle shrapnel just missing my left eye.
Meet the face of evil.
I stuffed it full of fabric (my original inspiration to pick this project back up was this) to create a rectangular-ish appearance.
The sick thing is I keep trying to think of how to do it better the next time. Next time? What am I? Fucking nuts?*
Fabric: Nature's Whimsy by Northcott and Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt
*Seriously, if you've sewn one of these devil-boxes please email me and tell me your secrets. I'm feeling pretty defeated.