Cute Purse!

Last week I mentioned the lecture in which Melinda Bula urged us to "make art."

Art is something I struggle with. I took Art in high school, but it was only the slide identification in the Art History portion of the class that pulled me through. I took an Art class in college. When my Prof examined my final portfolio, he looked me in the eye and said, "You are NOT an artist. (You can click on "prof" and see an example of his work. He was right. I'm not that kind of artist.)

Anyway, he encouraged me to visit the Design Department, but who had time to do that? I needed to graduate, not find a new distraction.

Since that time, I've struggled with the whole concept of being an artist. I'm definitely not an artist with a capital A. I'm probably not even a small letter "a" artist. But I LOVE to quilt. I love fabric and texture and embellishment and all the things that together tend to light a spark of creativity deep within me.

I've had a small block in my UFO pile for quite a while, and I added some triangles a few weeks ago, giving it an elongated shape. I'd even wondered if I might be able to turn it into a purse. Well looky there! I could! Melinda told us to "make art," "make something to please yourself" and I decided to just go with it. With such a small project, I couldn't get in too far over my head, and I did feel like being "creative."

Oh, guess what. Blogger is feeling creative too. It flipped my pictures. arg!! I'd try reloading them, but I suspect it will just give me more of the same. We'll just have to work with it...

This is the front of the purse. It's got a raw-edge appliquéd fish, a wooden fish, and a few glass beads for embellishment.

I used velcro to close it. What do you think of the feather quilting? It is unmarked free-motion quilting. Since I knew it wouldn't show, it was a good opportunity to practice...


This is the back. I think it is particularly cute. sigh. Too bad it's all tipsy in the picture. sigh.


I haven't used it yet. It measures 6" x 8", and is big enough for ID, plastic, and a couple of tissues...and maybe some keys. It's small, but I like it anyway. Is it art? I have no idea. But it IS pretty cute, even if I do say so myself...