Go RED for Women

The Orange County, California chapter is having their annual fundraiser and lunch in Newport Beach on Friday, March 2nd.

Go Red For Women celebrates the energy, passion and power we have as women to band together to wipe out heart disease and stroke.
 

Heart disease is still the No. 1 killer of women, taking the life of 1 in 3 women each year. This means women just like you - mothers, sisters, friends - are dying at the rate of one per minute because they don't know what you know: heart disease kills.
 

Women have come together here in the fight against heart disease in women. Take your seat at the table with dedicated women and men just like you. Hear their survivor stories, learn how heart disease affects a family and how you can help stop heart disease in our lifetime. Share our mission to fight the No. 1 killer of women.
 

Make It Your Mission to fight heart disease in women. By sharing this commitment, together we can help save lives. Be a part of this extraordinary day.
I was asked to make a purse for the auction.  I have a special commitment here, because both my grandmother and dad died as a result of heart disease.  

I originally thought that I would buy a vintage purse and decoupage it with fabric, but I never found a good purse.  So, I decided to make a purse myself, which is a 'first' for me.  It's about 9 inches wide by 6 inches tall.  It has a strip of zipper trim on the front and back, but not in the same place.  A zipper on the top of the bag, and a zipper for the handle, because zippers are part of my signature style.

This was the perfect zipper for the handle, because it has a heart for the pull.  It can be unzipped to give the appearance of 2 handles.

Another view.  The fabric was fused to red wool blended felt in a collage sort of way.  Each section was cut and free motion machine quilted to black wool blended felt, to give it stability.  No pattern was used and no pattern made for future purses.

I love the combination of all of the different red commercial cottons and batiks.  I hope it makes some money for The American Heart Association.  My hat goes off to anyone who makes purses.  I never want to make another one.  I'll stick to art quilts.