Only a little bit of a Market post

So there are still a few loose ends to tie up regarding the trip to Houston and here's one of them...

It's tradition for Pam to come up with a couple of new bag patterns for each Market. I end up making several so that I can test the pattern--plus it's fun! This time was no exception and "Patchy Pouch" and "Messenger Bag" made their debut this fall.

I decided it would be fun to have a different bag to carry for each day of Market. Like so many others, I fell in love with "Rouenneries" by French General for Moda and it just so happened that I had some fabric left over after I made my "Toujours" quilt...and can't have fabric like that go to waste, right?




I made my Patchy Pouch exactly like the pattern except I added a blanket stitched monogram, used webbing for the strap instead of fabric, and clipped on this nifty antique french bird thingie that Pam gave me a couple of years ago.

I think my favorite bag however, was the Messenger Bag.



Here I went a little nuts--for the back I made a pieced pocket, added antique trim and an antique doily and of course a fabric ruffle (any excuse to get the ruffler out). For the front, I changed the size of the trim panels a little bit from the pattern so I could tuck in some antique French crochet trim that I'd been looking for an opportunity to use.




Then, instead of a covered button, I tied vintage trim to an antique cast iron shade pull...and on the ends of the trim I used an antique button I inherited plus some little bead thingies I got from a jar of "notions" that Pam's daughter Frankie had brought me from the actual French General shop.

So now here's the cool part...when we were in the United Notions booth Kaari of French General had arrived for a book signing.



Now that's pretty cool all by itself, but get this: She noticed my bag, admired my bag, and asked if she could photograph my bag! That was a major thrill for me. If I hadn't had so much crap stowed in the bag I think I would have just given it to her!

Definitely one of the highlights of Houston. And be on the lookout for the next line of French General fabric, "Rural Jardin"...it's just as gorgeous as the first.