Let's contest that

My friend and I are planning on going to a quilt show located in Southern California in January. While there is a quilt contest (no surprise there), this time they are also sponsoring a purse/bag contest.

I decided on entering the purse/bag contest. That meant I had to purchase their fabric, as it is one of the rules. Check. I needed to decide what to make. Check - a garment bag. I needed to decide how I was going to make it. Check - use their fabric on the outside, pockets on the side which will be folded under. I wanted to figure out how to "bling" it up. Check - use my hand embroidery skills.

The ivory colored fabric started out ironed, but with images that seemed rather flat. I didn't like how my eyes kept going to the white section. On this particular motif I put french knots in the white area, and outlined a "pinwheel". While I haven't ironed it again, it looks much better to me.

I have a number of embroidery hours left to go, but have decided to start cutting out the other pieces for the bag. Onward and upward!