Tasting Table Tuesday - Weekender Bag

I finally took the plunge...  I've admired Amy Butler's Weekender Bag pattern for quite some time now, but was hesitant to try making one.  The pattern calls for tons and tons of interfacing and Peltex, and if you buy everything on the material list it becomes VERY expensive to make - and probably pretty difficult as well.  But then I read about an alternative construction method on Elizabeth Hartman's blog, Oh, Frannson, that eliminates all that Peltex.  Count me in!!!  That's all the encouragement I needed to give this bag a try.

Elizabeth uses only cotton duck, thin batting, and quilting cotton.  She used a "quilt-as-you-go" patchwork technique that looks amazing.  I opted to just use one piece of fabric, instead of the patchwork, but still used the same quilting technique to secure all the layers together, stitching vertical rows every half inch.
I think this is probably the most challenging bag I've tried so far, but I haven't run into any problems - yet...  It's been years since I've made piping - let alone applied it to a bag - and I love the extra detail it provides.
So wish me luck in completing this monster.  I think I'm going to love it when it's done, but I don't think this is something I'll want to make dozens of, that's for sure!

And if you're looking for my Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day post, just click here.  Good luck!!!

Cheers!