When I first got started making cases I couldn’t pass by a fabric shop or a sewing machine shop without looking in to see what kind of interesting things were there. On a field trip to Istanbul, Turkey to check out the possibilities of getting production work done my hosts took me to the grand bazaar to shop for leather. I felt as though I were transported back a thousand years as we sat there and drank tea and haggled over the price of leather.

That was nearly 15 years ago. Today I went to the local fabric market and wandered among the many sellers looking for just the right fabric to encase the cues. While I didn’t quite get the same thrill I did back then in Turkey I was elated to be running fabric through my fingers, judging it by the weight, the elasticity, the softness. As I contemplated the many variations I could envison cues cradled in the velvet smoothness.

I saw suitcase style cases with faux tiger fur lining. Interiors of tube cases in tourquoise and purple. Once again I imagined all the possibilities or at least an endless stream danced in my head while choosing samples.

So, in the words of the immortal Fast Eddie Felson, “I’m back!”