My First Crazy Quilt Purse Completed

I began this purse back in January and finally completed it this morning!  (To see larger views, click on photos.)

Front of purse with the flap open.  (The spider lurks beneath the flap.)

Well, I think it is done.  I am not happy with the Velcro closure.  Although I was extremely careful about placing it where the pattern marked, I believe the Velcro on the front pocket should have been about a quarter-inch higher.

If I use this pattern (Butterick #B5728) in the future, I will sew a buttonhole onto the front flap prior to basting it onto the purse.  Then, I will sew a button onto the front pocket, lining up with the buttonhole.

Front of purse - Butterick Pattern B5728 (original pattern is NOT Crazy Quilted)

Back of purse - Butterick Pattern B5728 (original pattern is NOT Crazy Quilted)

All-in-all, for my first CQ purse, I am happy with the results.

Close Up of front

The beaded flowers on the front flap were inspired by a few crazy quilted blocks I have seen posted with the Crazy Quilting International Yahoo! Group and - more recently - by an adorable Crazy Quilt Journal Project Block.  (Click here to see it.  And, if you have not checked out the eye candy at the CQJP 2013 blog, you are missing out!)

The tall Easter Daisies on the front lower-right pocket were inspired by Diana Lampe's Embroidery for all Seasons. 

Close Up of back

The flower sequins made turning the purse right-side-out after sewing the lining in very, very interesting.  I feared I may lose them - or pull out some embroidered stitches.  Luckily, that did not happen!

I traced the hearts from a quilting template I purchased some time ago and randomly filled them with stitches.

The tree in the center was inspired by a tree in Aimee Ray's book, Doodle Stitching: The Motif Collection: 400+ Easy Embroidery Designs.  (My husband is not a fan of pastels or pinks.  I must admit, I ended up setting this project aside for over a month after he was a little too honest and told me my tree reminded him of "cheap pink plastic jewelry."  *Please note that Aimee Ray's tree is not at all pink, nor does it resemble cheap plastic jewelry. You may see it for yourself if you click the link to her book on Amazon.com I added above.*  Now we laugh about it and I affectionately refer to this as my "Cheap Pink Plastic Jewelry Purse.")

Thank you for stopping by!
Renee