My Mary Koval Bag

Last October I attended the American Coverlet Museum's Coverlet College in Bedford, PA. On one afternoon during the trip my friends and I stopped into Mary's Quilt Shop to browse. It hadn't even occurred to me that it was Mary Koval's quilt shop. As I glanced around I thought, gee all these fabrics look familiar, then it hit me. A few minutes later in walked Mary. As we chatted I mentioned that I already owned most of the fabrics in the store because I love her fabric lines. She laughed and said she could probably find one that I don't have. Perhaps one of her early lines. We chatted about why we were in town and she graciously gave us a tour of the quilter's retreat space above her shop. It is lovely, if I go back again that is where I will stay. Before we left I picked through the cart of fat quarters choosing my favorites. My friend asked me what I was planning to do with them. "I'm going to make a Mary bag," was my response, which Mary got a kick out of. We made our purchases and went on our way.

So the next day during a break at the conference, a gentleman approached me and said, "I believe I have a package for you." I thought that was strange. Who on earth would be sending me a package here? Weird. Very weird.  Then I opened it and had a good belly laugh. No, I certainly did not have this cheater fabric from Mary's 2001 collection. I wasn't even quilting then! The gentleman was a friend of Mary's and she dug this out of a scrap bin to send over.

So then I happened to run into her again at the DAR Quilt Symposium this spring (more on that later.) I had to confess I hadn't been able to complete the bag yet, but I had big plans for using that fabric. This is the Midi Bag by Quiltsmart.

Her cheater fabric was exactly what I needed to use for the lining. And I mean exactly, there wasn't a 1/2 inch to spare! I think it was meant to be. I added a few pockets that the pattern didn't call for as I expect to use this as a project bag. It is the perfect size for an appliqué project or even knitting. 

Every time I use it I'll think of that fun trip and look forward to returning for a retreat one day.