In my last post, I was working on several things without finishing anything.  Since then, my husband and I took a few days for our annual warm weather vacation.  I was very relaxed on my poolside chair, but I did manage to look up and draw the palms overhead to make a journal page. 

After returning home, I received my hardware for the “Podium”, the January Bag of the Month. In the past, I’ve made unstructured tote bags, but this was the first pattern I’ve made with lots of interfacing structure and hardware.  The pattern was somewhat complicated, but the instructions were thorough and had good pictures.  After making the components and stitching the exterior to the lining wrong side out, one of the last steps was to reach through the zipper pocket and turn the whole thing right side out.  I had my doubts, but it worked!  Here is the finished bag.