In celebration of the completion of my dissertation manuscript (no that is not the end of the hell that is doctoral candidacy, I still need to defend the blessed thing)  I decided to sew something that could be completed. I belong to the San Diego Modern Quilt Guild and we are having a “grocery bag swap” at our next meeting. Meaning….I think….we all bring our hand made creations, put them in the middle of the table, pull names and pick someone elses bag to keep. In an effort not to be the last picked I think I went for overkill

and the other side

This is made with a tutorial by Bijou Lovely called quite simply the Market Tote (grocery bag = market tote I see the connection, don’t you?). It is a simple tutorial to follow which was what I was after since I have only made one other bag in the last 30 years. I used the fabric that I had made my sewing table cover with before it was “replaced” by my current sewing machine and table.

I used one of my machine’s fancy stitches instead of regular straight line top stitching on the bottom half.

and contrasting threads on the handles and bag. I decided to make the handles with the black side out because the theme fabric was a bit busy for that area. I like the choice myself but my husband thinks I should have left them facing out. I like the contrast myself. He’s got a great eye but I stuck to my guns on this one and I like the outcome.

the interior is a piece of fabric that has quilty words on it, I thought that was fitting considering the audience. There are no pockets this time, I just followed the directions as written. Next time I will go rogue and add some.

I’m very happy with the outcome. I can see why people love making bags so much, it can be very satisfying. I say it can be because the duffle I made my sister was quite the process, unlike this one which I got done in an evening and a morning. I’m already making a mental list of worthy bag recipients in my life so I have an excuse to make more!