Jan Aaron
"A Cinderella Fish Tale"
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My initial purse design was proving to be difficult to execute. I was working on another project, an appliqué quilt with tropical fish and I couldn’t put it down. A glance at a Nordstrom shopping bag became a turning point. Why not make the quilt into a tote bag? And just like that, I jumped into one of the most fun projects I have ever done.
The bag is pure fantasy and what better tale to tell than Cinderella’s. Could she have dropped her bag and that is what Prince Charming found? Or did she take it home and all he found was the matching flip-flop? You choose how to tell this “fish tale.”
On a deeper level, the bag is in remembrance of a dear friend lost to cancer. Much of the appliqué and beading was ideal to work on during hospital visits to her. I truly believe my excitement and quirky babble about it took her mind off the cancer that took her life. In some respects, she was my Cinderella. I found the beach wrap and tropical fish accent among her things as if she left them there just for this project.