Nancy Shriber was the guest artist at the recent Design Outside the Lines retreat run by Diane Ericson. Nancy, an expert Sashiko artist, showed us fantastic samples from her book Sashiko Handbags 14 on 14. The premise is to make an embroidered 14″ x 14″ lined embroidered square and fold it to form a purse. Think of an origami meets handbag construction. I made her Asymmetrical Envelope with freeform embroidery rather than the traditional geometric Sashiko pattern. The top has a piece of curly willow to give the bag structure. I braided copper chain with hand dyed silk ribbon for the shoulder strap. The Foo Dog covers a magnetic snap, and the inside silk lining has a small pocket for a phone or eyeglasses.