My Reading Lady, Curved Seams Challenge

I joined this challenge from Rikka@riccochet thinking I'd practice my sewing skills with a simple project. The challenge appeared to be simple in nature when I signed up. I forgot about my wondering mind, you know, the voice that says, "Ooh! What if I do this?" She was on full alert this month.
I decided to make a kobo bag for my new kobo, something simple to store it and protect it.  Then while looking for things to spend my Xmas money on, I found this charm of a lady reading in a hammock. I mean, how perfect was that. So I wanted to incorporate the charm in the bag and she would have to be under a tree, right? My wondering mind went on to think of all the books I was going to read and all the ones I had read. I remembered an old book I had whose title is "Women Who Read." I wanted to add something that would convey the message of the book. In paintings and sculptures, depictions of women who read have always conveyed an underlying certain message that women who read are dangerous, to be feared because they get ideas they are not supposed to have. That thought makes me smile widely because I am avid reader and have been accused on occasion of reading too many books. The comments usually come from someone who doesn't agree with me at the time.
Back to the bag, I stamped 'Beware Women Who Read' on a thin canvas fabric and added a little color by making 'curved seams' as decoration.

The bag itself is made from re-purposed fabrics in my stashes. The outside layer is a navy blue corduroy. I figured it would be sturdy. The lining is a quilting cotton, lovely cream and french blue flowers. I added a pocket for papers or a small notebook and another for pens. Some short straps make the bag more portable.
For my reading lady, I constructed an autumn tree and appliqued and quilted it onto the corduroy, trying my hand at adding color with free-motion stitching. She is resting against the tree and is enjoying her book. For the kobo itself, I stitched some thick cotton fabric into a sleeve held closed using one of my hand-made button that matched the pink and cream fabric.
I quite like my bag. I learned a bit more about my own skills, where my strengths and future challenges lay. Every time I look at the bag, I smile at my reading lady. She reminds me that reading is a good thing, especially if you're a woman!