patchwork handbag with crocheted flowers

“Mom, can I use some of your flowers?” has become a frequent refrain around our house. The last time I heard it was a few days ago, when Eva decided to make a handbag for herself.

She decided on the size of the bag and she did all the patchwork on her own. She decorated the finished patchwork with polymer clay buttons and a few crocheted flowers from Crochet Bouquet. I agreed to sew the pieces together for her.

close up of crocheted daffodil

It looks great, doesn’t it?! It’s a true piece of TextileFusion! The daffodil she chose was crocheted with Cascade 220, and then felted.

I am very proud of her. She showed initiative, and she persevered, even though I told her she probably couldn’t finish the purse before we left for our family/working vacation. She proved me wrong. Good for her!

Soda Dam, New Mexico

We’re on our round-about way, first to Denver, for a book signing at Showers of Flowers, and then on to Estes Park, Colorado, where I’m going to teach a polymer clay button class.

Though you can’t really tell it, the photo of Eva’s handbag was taken at Soda Dam in New Mexico’s Jemez Valley. It’s a natural dam made from minerals from the hot spring there. The dam is about 300 feet long. Here’s where the river squeezes under the dam. The mineral is travertine, and it was deposited bit by bit as the spring water came out of the earth. Amazing!